Ukraine-Russia: Germany takes steps to halt Nord Stream 2

[hunter]

24. So long as Germany rejects nuclear power they cannot quit coal or Russian natural gas.

Notice how nobody is mentioning Nord Stream One which has an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas.

If Germany's nimble gas power plants are shut down for lack of fuel then the erratic electrical output of wind and solar projects becomes much less useful and more dirty coal has to be burned.

Germany currently imports about a third of its gas from Russia.

Gas from Nord Stream 2 would have been used to further reduce Germany's dependence on coal.

At the moment the wind is blowing in Germany so gas use is minimal, about 5 gigawatts, but that's not always the case.

For comparison, California's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant has a capacity of 2.25 gigawatts.