Elon Musk Says Germany Is Making a Dangerous Mistake

Germany said goodbye to its last three nuclear reactors on April 15, the culmination of a controversial, long-standing promise.

Elon Musk is an everything chief executive. The billionaire and CEO of Tesla  (TSLA) - Get Free Report has become the most influential and powerful boss in the world in recent months. At least one product or service developed by one of its companies is available in all continents. 

The tech mogul, who wants to leave his mark on history, sees it as his duty to shine the spotlight on issues that have a huge impact on the world. One of these issues is global warming. 

Unlike environmental activists, who stigmatize the proponents of fossil fuels, Musk believes that the key is to convince the reluctant by showing them that a sustainable energy economy is possible. It is in this logic that the billionaire has just criticized the end of nuclear power in Germany. For him, exiting the atom is a monumental mistake, especially for a country that does not have energy independence.

Germany put an end to 10 years of procrastination on April 15, by disconnecting the nuclear power plants of Isar 2, Neckarwestheim and Emsland from the country's electricity grid. The decision marked the end of an era, as these were the country’s remaining nuclear power plants in service.

'Total Madness'

"The timing of this couldn’t be worse," Musk, whose Tesla company has a factory near Berlin, blasted out in a tweet on April 15. His post was in response to a past Musk interview posted by a Twitter user.

In that interview, given a year ago to Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, the billionaire had gone further.

"Germany should not only not shut down the nuclear power plants, it should reopen the ones that shut down," he told the media executive. "It's crazy to shut down nuclear power plants. Please do not shut down nuclear power plants, and please reopen the ones that have been shut."

He called Germany's decision "total madness," because "this is a national security risk."

"Listen. Playtime is over. Ok? Obviously, playtime is over. It’s a national security risk to shut these things down…I think people need to understand, coal power plants because of their emissions, they cause us a number of deaths every year, are far more dangerous than nuclear power plants,” he argued.

Germany, the largest emitter of CO2 in the European Union, remains today very dependent on coal. In 2022, the last three nuclear reactors provided 6% of the energy produced in the country, compared to 33% for coal, which even increased by 8% last year due to the gas crisis.

Russian Gas

Initially set for Dec. 31, 2022, the shutdown of the three power plants was granted a reprieve of a few months, due to the energy crisis linked to the war in Ukraine and the shortage of Russian gas. 

The consensus on the energy issue that has prevailed in Germany over the past 10 years was that cheap Russian gas, less polluting than coal, and whose supply was considered very secure, was the ideal way to support the transition to renewable energies.

This followed a decision taken after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. The country had decided to phase out nuclear power. Angela Merkel, the chancellor at the time, had given an exit schedule.

But when Russian President Vladimir Putin decided last year to significantly reduce deliveries of Russian gas to Europe following European Union sanctions, Germany, like many European countries, found itself in a very bad position. Electricity prices have risen sharply and energy rationing measures have been enacted.

The country, Europe's largest economy, depends on Russia for nearly half of its gas supply. It is therefore no surprise that this gas war had raised the question of the energy independence of the country, which is home to multinationals such as Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Siemens. Many anti-nuclear supporters changed their minds when they realized that they could no longer count on Russian gas to abandon nuclear and promote renewables.

According to a recent survey from TV channel ARD, 59% of those questioned believe that, in this context, giving up nuclear power plant is not a good idea. 

In a joint statement on April 13, the ministers for the Environment and the Economy said that the wide availability of energy supply in Germany remains "assured," adding that the country's gas reservoirs are 64.5% full, thanks to the massive import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Germany has taken up the challenge to wean itself off fossil fuels, setting the objective of covering 80% of its electricity needs with renewables by 2030. It also intends to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045. But, without nuclear power, is this goal possible, some experts have asked.