By P Gosselin
A recent investigative interview by Apollo News featuring former Hamburg Environmental Senator and energy expert Fritz Vahrenholt has sparked intense debate over the stability of Germany’s power grid and the future of its industrial economy.
As Germany aggressively transitions away from traditional baseload power and over to erratic renewable energies like wind and sun, government agencies are secretly preparing for worst-case energy shortages.
Forced shutdowns, no financial compensation!
According to documents obtained by Apollo News, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has been quietly developing emergency protocols over the past two years. Under these plans, the agency could order industrial plants consuming over 10 GWh per year to limit or completely shut off electricity usage with just 24 hours’ notice—and crucially, without any financial compensation.
“This is how far the energy transition has pushed us. We are at the level of South Africa, where they also do rolling blackouts […] because they cannot generate enough electricity,” said Vahrenholt. “”It is not about the climate at all. In the end, this is about anti-industrial policies, policies designed to destroy Germany. That is what ultimately comes out of this.”
Vahrenholt warns that the simultaneous exit from nuclear power and ongoing coal phase-outs have severely depleted Germany’s controllable, dispatchable energy supply. While wind and solar capacity have expanded significantly, they remain weather-dependent and cannot supply power during extended periods of low wind and sunlight (Dunkelflaute).
Although the German government plans to construct new gas-fired power plants as a backup, Vahrenholt highlights that these facilities will not be operational until 2031 or 2032 at the earliest. This leaves a dangerous multi-year window where grid instability and forced rationing threaten industrial stability.
Profound economic and industrial consequences
The threat of sudden, uncompensated power shutdowns creates immense operational uncertainty. This environment deters foreign investors and pressures domestic industrial companies to shift investment and production abroad. Forced curtailments would primary hit energy-intensive key industries, including aluminum, copper, steel, chemical, glass, and paper manufacturing.
Relying heavily on imported natural gas carries geopolitical risks and volatile prices. Furthermore, the political push to eventually transition these plants to green hydrogen threatens to drive future electricity prices to uncompetitive levels.
Solutions proposed by Fritz Vahrenholt
To restore energy reliability and protect the industrial base, Vahrenholt outlines three critical steps: 1) Stop the shutdown of remaining coal-fired power plants to preserve crucial back-up generation, 2) bring 3 to 6 recently closed nuclear reactors back online. According to Vahrenholt, this is technically feasible and would provide decades of zero-emission baseload power at a fraction of the cost of yearly renewable subsidies. 3) tap domestic gas reserves in states like Lower Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt to lower energy costs and reduce dependence on expensive foreign Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports.
