German energy summit fails to establish comprehensive energy strategy, E.ON reports

E.ON's CEO, Wulf Bernotat, said that although those involved clearly wanted to achieve a positive change in the market: “Nevertheless, the summit was also characterized by unresolved questions and divergent opinions.” Indeed, Dr Bernotat went on to say: “Today we made almost no progress towards the energy strategy that Germany so urgently needs, a strategy that addresses three policy objectives equally: security of supply, climate protection, and cost-effectiveness.”

The company's CEO commented that, instead, the talks were dominated by climate change, and that although the company is committed to this issue, it does not believe that this should be at the expense of security of supply. Dr Bernotat also expressed his disappointment that the issue of nuclear power generation in Germany was not discussed seriously. Prior to the talks, German online publication dw-world.de had speculated that the talks would be dominated by nuclear power's contribution to the country's energy mix.

Dr Bernotat said: “Right now Germany has the best and most balanced energy mix in Europe. We should try to keep it that way. And I believe that emission-free nuclear power is an essential ingredient in this mix.” Despite its disappointment, E.ON pledged to invest €60 million over the next three years in secure and environmentally-friendly energy supply in both its domestic market and Europe as a whole. Dr Bernotat concluded: “By 2030, we intend to reduce our generation fleet's specific CO2 emissions by 50% compared with 1990 levels.” (Energy business review)