The shift away from nuclear power and towards renewables is based on reasoned debate and aimed at achieving objectives which are ambitious but realistic.

The shift away from nuclear power and towards renewables is based on reasoned debate and aimed at achieving objectives which are ambitious but realistic.

By 2022, Germany will have phased out nuclear energy. Until then, we will be investing even more heavily in the radical new direction of German energy policy. This decision represents another surge forward on Germany's road towards sustainable energy provisions sourced largely from renewables. In taking it, we have set ourselves an ambitious objective. Our intention now is to map out our long-term and irreversible progress along that road, heading for energy provision that is clean, affordable and safe. We will be investing in industries which are set to dominate the future.

The decision to phase out nuclear energy has the backing of a broad majority in German society. Civilian nuclear power has been the subject of a highly charged debate in both politics and society for many years. The broad democratic consensus we have reached is that this change of track on energy policy is possible — technically, conceptually and economically. The tragedy at Fukushima triggered a reassessment of the risks of nuclear power and accelerated our change of direction. However, Germany had decided before Fukushima to move towards renewable energy sources and bring about an end to its relationship with nuclear power. That policy chimes with our commitment to combat climate change. The targets for developing renewable energies, which the German government set in October 2010, have simply been shifted forward.

Our neighbours and partners have been observing our accelerated change of direction with great, sometimes sceptical, interest. But one thing is indisputable: on the basis of reasoned debate, we have set ourselves objectives which are ambitious but realistic. We will act responsibly in our work towards all these goals, seeking always to ensure security of supply, affordability and respect for the climate and the environment. Until March 2011, Germany's 17 nuclear reactors generated 22 per cent of our country's electricity needs. After eight reactors were taken off the grid in March 2011, the remaining nine cover 15 per cent of the demand. Even with the eight oldest reactors offline, our guaranteed capacity is still more than our highest ever domestic consumption.

For the time being, the deficit caused by taking those reactors out of the equation is being met by new, renewable capacities, better system management and improved efficiency.

In future, nuclear power will gradually be replaced by energy from renewable sources and low-carbon gas power plants. We will continue to need fossil-fuel power plants for an interim period, to bridge the technological gap. Nevertheless, our climate change targets will remain unaffected. We still aim to achieve the EU-wide target of lowering CO{-2} emissions by at least 20 per cent by 2020 as well as our national target of a 40 per cent reduction.

In 2010, 17 per cent of Germany's electricity came from renewable sources. We plan to make this 35 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2030. Germany's change of direction is not going to make us more dependent on other countries. The German government is investing more than ever in the three key areas to ensure its power supplies: enhancing the grid, developing renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency.

Each country must decide its own energy mix, this has recently been underlined by Chancellor Merkel during her talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the first Indo-German governmental consultations. However, there are many dangers which do not stop at national borders. It is, therefore, a good thing to have EU stress tests to provide reliable and comparable assessments of nuclear power plant safety. We should also be making it our common goal in international bodies like the IAEA to ensure the greatest possible safety by establishing the highest possible standards. We must not allow a disaster like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl or Fukushima to happen again.

If we are to achieve our goals in energy and climate change, we need to complete the European internal market for energy too. This will involve working on energy efficiency, continuing to enhance the internal energy market and competition to benefit the consumer, improving infrastructure to better secure supply, and diversifying among sources and supply routes. National grids need to be connected intelligently and with an eye for what is needed. Any potential for saving energy needs to be optimally exploited. Energy saving is crucial as a source to help cover our energy needs.

In my work as Foreign Minister, I campaign for all of us around the world to be able to use the opportunities opened up by globally developing renewable energy. We are helping to implement the Desertec concept, which enables clean electricity from solar, wind and even photovoltaic power to be generated in desert regions and delivered to industrialised countries across the globe. Solutions that yesterday seemed utopian or completely unaffordable are now technically and economically possible or tangibly close to realisation. In Germany, renewables have already created a lot of jobs. Fast growing emerging and developing countries can also benefit from the new technology to make their growth more sustainable.

Our partner India has great potential to be a leader in the production of renewable energies and the German government observes India's policies in this area, such as the Solar Mission, with great interest. Renewables have become a prominent topic in our Indo-German Energy Forum, which was established in April 2006 by Prime Minister Mr. Singh and Chancellor Ms Merkel, and which brings government and industry representatives together for a political and project dialogue on a yearly basis. The Forum is something very special: it is the only such body we have ever set up to foster our energy relations with another country.

Both renewables and energy efficiency are also a priority area of our bilateral development cooperation. We are jointly planning to set up solar plants in India and working on models which are economically viable, ecologically sustainable and manageable for government administration, for example in decentralized renewable energy supply, an area of particular importance for rural livelihoods. There is a lot of fruitful cooperation already going on — and Germany stands ready to expand this in the future.

With this acceleration of its energy revolution, Germany, one of the world's leading industrialized nations, is pursuing a path which it has been travelling in terms of technology and planning for some time. Our new direction on energy will not be to the detriment of our capacities, our environment or our neighbours. It will open the door to efficient, sustainable, safe and economically sound energy policies for the 21st century. We invite our partners to collaborate on this closely and constructively, and to make full use of the opportunities at hand.

(The writer is Foreign Minister of Germany.)