The German government denied politicians’ calls on Wednesday to postpone closing the country’s last three nuclear power plants this weekend.
The remaining reactors were initially scheduled to shut down on Dec. 31, 2022, according to the Associated Press.
Over concerns about facing energy inefficiency, Scholz spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann delayed shutting it down last year.
The approval was conditional upon sticking to the new closing date, which is April 2023. Additionally, shutting down the plant would strip Germany away a source of low-emission power.
Wolfgang Kubicki, deputy leader of the Free Democrats was reported to say shutting plants down would be “a dramatic mistake.”
Other Free Democrats party members called for maintaining nuclear plants at standby in case they are needed later.
Environment Ministry spokesperson Bastian Zimmermann commented such measurement would be both illegal and costly.
Nuclear power plants currently produce about 5 percent of Germany’s electricity. Beate Baron, Economy Ministry spokesperson said the country will manage to preserve its power supply and exports.
