Recently ran across this report on techxplore.com that does a deep dive into the sources of German power production since 1990, based on data from Clean Energy Wire:
One year ago, Germany took its last three nuclear power stations offline. When it comes to energy, few events have baffled outsiders more.
In the face of climate change, calls to expedite the transition away from fossil fuels, and an energy crisis precipitated by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Berlin's move to quit nuclear before carbon-intensive energy sources like coal has attracted significant criticism. (Greta Thunberg prominently labeled it "a mistake.")
This decision can only be understood in the context of post-war socio-political developments in Germany, where anti-nuclearism predated the public climate discourse.
The article goes on to examine the historical roots of Germany’s seemingly unique antipathy toward nuclear power with the rise of the Greens in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and in particular how the 2011 Fukushima disaster convinced even the relatively pro-nuclear CDU government at the time that politically they had no choice but to continue phasing out their existing nuclear power plants. And while I would certainly side with Greta Thunberg and most other climate activists in questioning this German priority on decommissioning their last remaining nuclear power plants over phasing out coal at a faster rate, I’m still blown away by the trends evident in the above graph:
Predictions that the nuclear exit would leave Germany forced to use more coal and facing rising prices and supply problems, meanwhile, have not transpired. In March 2023—the month before the phaseout—the distribution of German electricity generation was 53% renewable, 25% coal, 17% gas, and 5% nuclear. In March 2024, it was 60% renewable, 24% coal, and 16% gas.
In 2000 renewables accounted for just 6% of German electricity production, and by 2030 they are projected to reach 80%!