German reactors at Grohnde, Brokdorf, Gundremmingen to end production Dec. 31

German reactors at Grohnde, Brokdorf and Gundremmingen with a combined capacity of 4.2 GW are to end production on Dec. 31, with the units to be disconnected from the grid during the evening, transparency data shows.

The 1.4 GW Grohnde and 1.5 GW Brokdorf units in northern Germany were scheduled to ramp down during the evening and to be disconnected from the grid around 22:30 local time, according to operator PreussenElektra.

The 1.3-GW Gundremmingen-C in southern Germany is already ramping down, with production reaching close to zero by 16:30 CET and disconnection scheduled for 19:00 local time, according to operator RWE's transparency notes on EEX.

Spot power prices for Dec. 31 plunged amid a surge in wind above 30 GW.

Day-ahead baseload settled at Eur12.13/MWh, the lowest in five months and compared to a record-high Eur416.72/MWh just nine days ago, Epex Spot data shows.

Five hours early Dec. 31 settled below zero.

Germany's energy and environment ministers Robert Habeck and Steffi Lemke (both Greens) welcomed the closures in a joint statement Dec. 28.

Plans to exit nuclear date back two decades to a first coalition of the SPD with the Greens bringing in production quota for reactors.

In 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Germany decided to immediately close reactors built before 1980 and reverse a planned run-time extension for modern nuclear plants by setting mandatory closure dates.

So far, only three modern reactors were shut, at end-2015, end-2017 and end-2019.

The final six closures are in an unprecedented short period and coincide with coal and lignite plant closures.

That, combined with record gas and CO2 prices, pushed German power prices to record highs, with Cal 2022 up fourfold this year closing Dec. 29 at Eur219.88/MWh, exchange data shows.

German nuclear generated over 65 TWh of electricity in 2021, covering almost 12% of German power demand.