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Gundremmingen Cooling Towers to Be Demolished Saturday in Symbolic End to Nuclear Era

The spectacle underscores mounting doubts about how the energy transition will deliver reliable power at acceptable cost.

Overview

  • The two 160‑meter towers at the former Gundremmingen plant are slated for controlled demolition at 12:00 on Saturday with extensive cordons and traffic restrictions in place.
  • Power supply will be unaffected because the site’s last reactor went offline in 2021 after Block B’s 2017 closure, making the blast a symbolic marker of the nuclear phase‑out.
  • Commentary ties the spectacle to planning gaps in the Energiewende, citing years of policies that slowed solar and onshore wind and delayed grid and smart‑meter rollouts.
  • A Hans‑Böckler‑Stiftung study projects €650 billion in grid spending by 2045 as the government considers large gas‑fired backup plants that may need subsidies and face EU concerns.
  • RWE says decommissioning continues for years and will soon add a large battery storage project at the site, with a groundbreaking planned four days after the blast.