Germany has bid farewell to nuclear energy, while China plans to triple its nuclear power output and invest in technologies like the thorium molten salt reactor. However, China remains heavily reliant on coal power.
Germany partially meets its electricity needs through imports, including French nuclear power. With 60.1% of energy coming from renewables in 2024, the energy future remains a challenge despite plans to phase out coal.
Ehtor on
It is important to know that China builds absolutely EVERYTHING it can to increase capacity. This includes nuclear but also coal, gas and especially renewables.
double_teel_green on
Germany must have a collective regret in being reliant on expensive Russian energy.
rustyawesomness on
I think it’s a mistake to phase out Nuclear
nickkon1 on
Showing it as Twh instead of % of their energy share really changes things. It looks like China expands but its in the single digits of their energy share. And while Germany phased out, they generate more with renewable then they ever did with nuclear and to that not only cheaper but also faster
xalaux on
Spain is also closing its nuclear energy plants. Huge historical mistake.
Soviet_Cat on
It’s crazy that we live in a time where China is leading the world in renewable energy production.
Back in 2014ish the consensus was that climate change was fucked because China would never get on board… Now look what’s happening….
wakomorny on
Anyone have context on where India is in this?
tegresaomos on
Phasing out nuclear is the biggest strategic mistake Germany has made since operation Barbarossa.
MrBlackledge on
It’s worth noting that china has been miniaturising nuclear reactors to try and build them faster and to have them in more rural areas, this also opens a new export market. This trend will only continue.
I think it would be interested to see this alongside other energy production for these countries as we as % import/export. France exports a lot of energy whilst Germany imports a lot so would be good to see if there’s any correlation.
delme95 on
People here are very good at avoiding the topic of nuclear waste management.
roarti on
For some reason nuclear seems to very popular in some online spaces, but by now it just doesn’t make much sense anymore to build new nuclear reactors. Wind and solar are much cheaper per kWh than nuclear. See e.g. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source)
![Nuclear Energy - Germany is Out, China Expands [OC]](https://www.byteseu.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/85nm6zjtb9pe1-1229x1536.png "Nuclear Energy – Germany is Out, China Expands [OC]")
12 Comments
**Article:** [**https://www.datapulse.de/en/nuclear-energy/**](https://www.datapulse.de/en/nuclear-energy/)
**Main data source:** [**https://ourworldindata.org/nuclear-energy**](https://ourworldindata.org/nuclear-energy)
**Data:** [Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PJctVIzDlZqXE8keveC590J0avbx6db2aQ1rgYGZH7w/edit?usp=sharing)
**Tool:** Adobe Illustrator
Germany has bid farewell to nuclear energy, while China plans to triple its nuclear power output and invest in technologies like the thorium molten salt reactor. However, China remains heavily reliant on coal power.
Germany partially meets its electricity needs through imports, including French nuclear power. With 60.1% of energy coming from renewables in 2024, the energy future remains a challenge despite plans to phase out coal.
It is important to know that China builds absolutely EVERYTHING it can to increase capacity. This includes nuclear but also coal, gas and especially renewables.
Germany must have a collective regret in being reliant on expensive Russian energy.
I think it’s a mistake to phase out Nuclear
Showing it as Twh instead of % of their energy share really changes things. It looks like China expands but its in the single digits of their energy share. And while Germany phased out, they generate more with renewable then they ever did with nuclear and to that not only cheaper but also faster
Spain is also closing its nuclear energy plants. Huge historical mistake.
It’s crazy that we live in a time where China is leading the world in renewable energy production.
Back in 2014ish the consensus was that climate change was fucked because China would never get on board… Now look what’s happening….
Anyone have context on where India is in this?
Phasing out nuclear is the biggest strategic mistake Germany has made since operation Barbarossa.
It’s worth noting that china has been miniaturising nuclear reactors to try and build them faster and to have them in more rural areas, this also opens a new export market. This trend will only continue.
I think it would be interested to see this alongside other energy production for these countries as we as % import/export. France exports a lot of energy whilst Germany imports a lot so would be good to see if there’s any correlation.
People here are very good at avoiding the topic of nuclear waste management.
For some reason nuclear seems to very popular in some online spaces, but by now it just doesn’t make much sense anymore to build new nuclear reactors. Wind and solar are much cheaper per kWh than nuclear. See e.g. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source)