Why has Germany, Europe's long-time flagship for green energy, suddenly begun discussing a return to nuclear power? This question sparked a heated debate between political scientist Yuriy Romanenko and economist Maksym Piven.
Discussing global energy trends, the experts differed fundamentally in their assessments of what caused the crisis in the German economy: the inherent weaknesses of renewable energy sources (RES) or a geopolitical failure resulting in dependency on Russia.
According to Maksym Piven, the German crisis is clear evidence that the environmental agenda pushed over the last 50 years has reached a dead end. He emphasized that alternative energy cannot ensure stability without the support of traditional hydrocarbons.
"Why has the rollout of green energy led to Germany saying, after 50 years, 'Let's bring back nuclear stations'? Something went wrong with the green agenda. Why? Because panels and wind turbines have specific problems... Green energy has downsides: it is inconsistent, affected by seasonality and the cycle of day and night," the economist argued.
Piven noted that when the wind dies down or night falls, Germany is forced to fire up gas turbines, making the "green transition" dependent on fossil fuels.
Yuriy Romanenko categorically rejected the accusations against renewable technologies themselves. According to him, Germany's problem lies not in solar panels or wind turbines, but in a flawed political architecture based on cooperation with the Russian Federation.
"This is a false thesis. Germany's strategy was built on access to cheap Russian gas. The war obliterated this, and the German economy suffered terrible blows to its resilience as core markets dropped off... and Russia fell away as an exporter of cheap raw materials," Romanenko responded.
The political scientist also added that the Russian lobby spent years financing political forces in Germany to advocate for the closure of nuclear plants. This was done to artificially increase Berlin's dependence on Russian gas, which was intended to serve as a bridge fuel for "green hydrogen" generation.
To prove the viability of alternative energy, Romanenko pointed to China, which is successfully diversifying its energy balance and increasing capacity at an unprecedented pace.
"In China, solar accounts for 9% of generation and wind for 10%, totaling 19%. Nuclear is at 4.5%, hydropower at 13%, gas at 3%, and coal at 59%. These are massive changes in structure over the last 30-40 years; they have significantly increased wind, solar, nuclear, and hydro," the expert highlighted.
Summarizing the discussion, Yuriy Romanenko noted that the German crisis is a consequence of losing security and raw material foundations, while technological progress in green generation continues successfully in other countries with more balanced strategies.