Expensive electricity and bankruptcies: Does Germany need to go back to nuclear power?

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From Euronews: Expensive electricity and bankruptcies: Does Germany need to go back to nuclear power?

By Zara Riffler & Donogh McCabe 5/23/25.

Germany's new minister of economy wants more natural gas power stations and electricity subsidies. But is that enough to boost the economy?

Once a world market leader, today, Germany is considered the "sick man of Europe", as the country remains mired in recession for the third year in a row.

Economic experts predict zero growth for this year, as the figures continue to show a dramatic decline. Last year, almost 200,000 companies shut their doors, according to a study by Creditreform, the highest figure since 2011.

The numbers will continue to plummet in 2025. A new high in insolvencies was reported in April. According to the Leibniz Institute, 1,626 company insolvencies were registered — 21% more than in April 2024 — exceeding even the figures from the 2008 financial crisis.

The high electricity prices in particular are causing problems for industry. Some steel giants now have to temporarily shut down their production on a single day to protect their company from financial damage...

For now the answer is fossil fuels, but don't worry, be happy, they'll burn natural gas, someday, even if for now it's coal.

Reiche also wants new gas-fired power plants as a solution to the problem — but the price of gas is also higher than ever. Does the minister have the right recipe to save the German economy?

Stelter explains that Minister Reiche is taking the right step.

"When the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining, we need a secure supply. Now that we have switched off nuclear power plants and we also want to switch off coal, the only thing left is gas-fired power plants," he said. Only with renewable energies, "it just won't work...

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Let's be clear: The "renewables will save us" movement was never, ever, not for a second, concerned with the collapse of the planetary atmosphere. It was always about attacking reliable and clean sustainable energy, nuclear energy.

There's an argument that it won't work, gas and renewables, any better than the current situation of coal and so called "renewabes" is working:

"Anyone who believes that renewable energy in combination with gas-fired power plants will lead to cheap electricity is living in a dream world," Stelter told Euronews.

"...Many people only ever look at the costs of solar cells and wind turbines. Only when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining is it favourable. In reality, we have to include the system costs such as storage and batteries - then renewable energies are the most expensive," he explained...

Really? No kidding? You don't say...