Since January 2011, E.ON had paid €2.3 billion in nuclear fuel taxes, EnBW had paid €1.1 billion, and RWE had paid €1.6 billion by the end of 2015, as well as bearing much greater costs with reduced revenue from the government's policy U-turn in March 2011. Whereas feed-in tariffs were set differentially between the north (more wind) and south (most demand), the new auction system does not allow that, so favours the north. This included up to €10 billion on fossil fuel plant, €144 billion on renewables plant and up to €29 billion on 3600 km of high-voltage transmission lines. In East Germany a research institute opened in 1956 and its research reactor started operation the following year. In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, Merkel’s government decided to phase out all of Germany’s nuclear power plants by 2022. As part of the agreement, GNS will transfer its interim storage activities to the government, including the existing central interim storage facilities in Ahaus and Gorleben which were transferred to BGZ at the end of July 2017. PHOTO: CNN Sans ™ & © 2016 Cable News Network. The new arrangement is in place of feed-in tariffs, which the EC had ordered to be phased out over 2016-20. This picture changed in 2011, with the operating fleet being reduced to nine reactors with 12,003 MWe capacity, and then to eight reactors with 10,728 MWe. Vattenfall in June 2012 contested the confiscation of generation rights for the Brunsbüttel and Krümmel nuclear power plants, and filed the case with the autonomous International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, which was designed in 1965 by the World Bank and established by a convention now signed by 143 countries. CNN to Ivory Coast leader: Does that sound like democracy? In February 2013 the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety said that the costs of Energiewende by the end of the 2030s could reach €1000 billion. Germany reversed its position on nuclear power after Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. E.On’s 1275 MWe Grafenrheinfeld nuclear reactor was closed in mid-2015. The 1500 MWe SNR-2 was designed by KWU but not built. Unit 1 was about 85% complete. Redispatching is used by network operators to ensure the safe, reliable operation of electricity supply networks. In July 2013 two acts were passed, the Repository Site Selection Act (StandAG) and another to establish a Federal Office for the Regulation of Nuclear Waste Management (Bundesamt für kerntechnische Entsorgungssicherheit, BfE) under the Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU). Germany recorded its highest rate of deaths related to Covid-19 in a 24 hour period today, with 590. The last German reactor is scheduled to shut down by the end … Through the 1990s Siemens-KWU with utilities worked with EdF and Framatome to develop the 1600 MWe EPR, marketed by Framatome ANP (formed from Framatome-Siemens nuclear merger), then Areva NP. In a 28 November 2015 Special Report The Economist, having pointed out that French households pay about half as much as German ones for electricity, commented: “Germany has made unusually big mistakes. The caps are designed to allow about 11 TWh renewables growth each year. The Radiation Protection Ordinance, Nuclear Licensing Procedure Ordinance and six other ordinances support this. While gas plants fit better as back-up for expanded renewables, they are less economic than coal, and gas supplies are uncertain, especially since sanctions applied due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. There are dozens of these temporary storage sites dotted across Germany. The new Christian Democrat (CDU) and Liberal Democrat (FDP) coalition government elected in September 2009 was committed to rescinding the phase-out policy, but the financial terms took a year to negotiate. These exports have a similar effect in neighbouring countries as in Germany, depressing wholesale power prices and compromising the profitability of gas-fired generation. Konrad will initially take some 300,000 cubic metres of wastes - 95% of the country's waste volume, with 1% of the radioactivity. The price of globally traded hard coal has dropped in the past few years, partly because shale-gas-rich America is exporting so much. The four operators in 2015 had a total of about €38 billion reserves set aside for decommissioning and waste disposal. International Atomic Energy Agency, Country Nuclear Power Profiles: Germany In total, 10.7 GWe of new coal-fired capacity was to come online over 2011-15, much of this as a result of plans predating March 2011, rather than as a response to nuclear phase-out plans. E.ON, RWE and EnBW have said the tax, of which they have paid about €5 billion, is illegal and favours other electricity sources, and have called for the tax to be repaid. The agency urged the German government to reconsider the policy in the light of "adverse consequences." Another 43 projects are identified in the BBPlG, based on the 2014 version of the Network Development Plan (NEP) presented annually by TSOs to the BNetzA. The Grohnde nuclear power plant open… In July 2015, after months of intense negotiations, the government scrapped its proposed levy on coal-fired plants and resolved that as part of the revised capacity mechanism regime within the Electricity Market 2.0 some 2.7 GWe of lignite-powered generating capacity (representing about 13% of installed lignite power) would be gradually transferred to a 'security standby reserve' (Sicherungsbereitschaft). Anti-nuclear movements started in Germany in the 1970s when local initiatives organised prote… The Court expressed "serious doubt" that the nuclear fuel tax was compatible with the German constitution. The first lawsuit had been brought by EnBW, which had paid the tax when it refuelled a reactor in July and quickly launched legal action, claiming the tax was unconstitutional and contrary to EU law. To achieve this, 879 Mt of overburden was removed, so total earthmoving on one year was 14 times that for building the Suez canal. Parliamentary opposition party leaders said that they would reverse the decision when they could – in the event, eight years later*. Since 2013 Germany has had occasions of negative spot power prices due to reduced demand and windy weather. EnBW announced that its two reactors – Neckarwestheim 1 and Phillipsburg 1 – will be directly dismantled without any safestor period, and in May 2013 EnBW submitted applications to decommission and dismantle them. Due to the feed-in tariffs of the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG – Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz) passed in 2000, wind power has become the most important renewable source of electricity production in Germany. Whereas the Social Democratic Party (SPD) had affirmed nuclear power in 1979, in August 1986 it passed a resolution to abandon nuclear power within ten years. France cannot even rely on its own nuclear power fleet to cover its own peak demand, much less serve Germany’s. These sites were selected as being "best placed from technical, legal and procedural aspects as well as from a political perspective." In September 2010 a new agreement was reached, to give eight-year licence extensions (from the dates agreed in 2001) for reactors built before 1980, and 14-year extensions for later ones. The last separated high-level wastes from past reprocessing in France and UK are expected to be returned to Germany over 2017 to 2022 and stored. Some €1.5 billion was spent over 1979 to 2000 researching the site, and the investment in it from the power utilities now stands at about €1.6 billion. At the end of 2015 the EEG was again revised for 2016 onwards, with renewables limited to 45% in 2025 and 60% in 2035 in order to synchronize with network expansion, to secure planning and development of the conventional (fossil and nuclear) power station fleet and so that Germany’s neighbours can adapt their own electricity systems to predictable renewable energy additions. In 2012 renewable power producers collected some €20 billion for electricity having a wholesale market value of €3 billion. The commission’s final report was submitted to the government in July 2016. “It can’t have earthquakes, it can’t have any signs of water flow, it can’t be very porous rock.”. Communications experts are already working on how to tell future generations thousands of years from now – when language will be completely different – not to disturb the site. This would be over 2016 to 2020 by negotiation with RWE (1.5 GWe), Vattenfall (1.0 GWe) and Mibrag. From 12,000 MWe in 2002, at the end of 2015, 44.9 GWe of wind capacity was installed, 32% of EU total, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. The politics of anti-nuclear protest gained an appeal to middle-class Germans, by conflating anti-NATO missile sentiment from being in the front line of a feared World War III and transferring this to the excellent plants that produced a third of their electricity very cheaply, while promoting idealistic visions of wind and solar potential. The bank noted that large capital-intensive projects have a tendency to go over budget. The ICSID opened its hearing in October 2016. Another 46.55% of EnBW is owned by the state’s municipalities. Germany's last black coal mine closed in December 2018, though black coal imports continue and new lignite mines are being opened. The industry body representing the companies responded that they were not prepared to do so, having already invested nearly that much in Gorleben. They have filed lawsuits against the government, claiming more than €24 billion related to Merkel's nuclear policy, which they claim is unfair and has rid them of one of their main profit centres overnight.”. The network upgrades and additions would require investment of some €20 billion by 2022. The CDU/CSU major party is concerned about high energy costs and prioritises grid expansion, while the minor party SPD is keen to have a carbon price. On 9 July 1997, the Austrian Parliament voted unanimously to maintain the country's anti-nuclear policy. Under BMU, the Reaktorsicherheitkommission or Reactor Safety Commission (RSK) conducts safety review of nuclear power reactors. State governments agreed to let the BNetzA coordinate plans, rather than asserting regional interests (though Bavaria later reneged on this). The commission included representatives from parliament, academia, civil society organizations, industry, the environment and trade unions. Overall 77% supported the continued use of nuclear energy, while only 13% favoured the immediate closure of nuclear power plants. Gas-fired capacity was 28.5 GWe (providing 14%). Protesters have blocked railway tracks to stop what they described as “Chernobyl on wheels” – containers of radioactive waste headed for Gorleben’s temporary storage facility. Nevertheless, in April 2016 the 19-member Commission on the Review of the Financing of the Nuclear Phaseout (KFK) called for utilities to provide an extra €23.3 billion “risk premium” and pay all provisions into a state-run fund, In May 2015 E.On and Vattenfall Europe (VENE) signed an agreement to cooperate on decommissioning "in order to make the decommissioning and dismantling process of their joint venture nuclear power plants as economical as possible." The court also said the duty on nuclear fuel did not constitute illegal state aid to non-nuclear sources. By May 2014 it had paid €790 million in the fuel tax for its two closed reactors. Germany decided to phase out all its nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, amid increasing safety concerns. In February 2013 the administrative court in Hesse found that the government had had acted illegally in ordering the closure of Biblis A & B in March 2011. Some old coal-fired plants have been kept in service to avert shortages, while others have closed. Five of these are VVER-440 units at Greifswald, closed in 1990 following reunification (unit 6 was complete but did not operate), with 235 unused fuel assemblies being sold to Paks in 1996. Green politics gained new momentum: 'Red-Green' coalitions of Social Democrats and Greens were formed in the German states and eventually, in 1998, gained representation at federal level. This policy of replacing nuclear power with extra fossil fuel capacity and vastly expanding highly-subsidised renewables is known as the Energiewende. Rossendorf, in east Germany, was closed in 1991. In 2013 the federal environment ministry (BMU) announced that the federal government and all 24 states had finally reached agreement on drafting a repository law (see above), and that the power utilities should spend €2 billion to find and develop a new repository. This capacity would be brought online when needed and then progressively shut down after four years. Some of the 11 shutdown reactors are not yet defuelled nor written off by their owners. The fuel tax expired at the end of 2016, and accordingly utilities had delayed refuelling five units until January and February 2017. Germany has the highest clean energy capacity in Europe and produced a record-breaking 43% of power from renewables in 2019, compared with 40% in the previous year. Other changes included reduced subsidies for renewables, and from 2017 those sources will have to compete. Work stopped in 2002 due to political edict, but in October 2010 the BfS on behalf of the federal government applied to resume studies and extend the operating licence to 2020. It is now considered a possible site for geological disposal of high-level wastes. As of 2017, the share of nuclear power … Opposition to nuclear power began in 1975 with the protests at the construction site of the proposed Wyhl reactor. Over 80 percent of parliamentarians voted for the bill in the Bundestag (federal parliament), underscoring the deep-seated scepticism against nuclear in German society, which had been a dominant feature in particular since the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl in today's Ukraine. Gilbert Kreijger et al, Handelsblatt Global Edition, How to Kill an Industry (24 March 2016) BBPlG projects are subject to accelerated planning procedures carried out by the regulator, and BBPlG brings legal force to a mid-2015 decision to prioritize underground cabling of HVDC cables over overhead lines, where previously the opposite had been the case. In Germany, 178 million tonnes of lignite was mined in 2014. RWE filed a lawsuit against the government regarding closure of its Biblis-B and said that the phase-out cost the company over €1 billion in 2011 alone. At Jülich, Urenco maintains a centrifuge development and manufacturing centre. Over 2005-14 residential electricity prices in Germany increased by more than the average total residential cost in the USA. Some 50 TWh/yr is now generated by individual industry autoproducers to ensure reliability of supply, about 25% of the power used in industry. German support for nuclear energy was very strong in the 1970s following the oil price shock of 1974, and as in France, there was a perception of vulnerability regarding energy supplies. This is largely due to a lack of investments in onshore wind, with auctions t… For other plants, no change from EEG 2014. Decommissioning of the 17 nuclear units operating to 2011 and six other commercial units (total 23) was expected to cost €48 billion. Utilities wanted to extend the lifetimes of all 17 reactors initially to 40 years (from average 32 years) and then individually seeking extensions to 60 years as in the USA. CNN's Cyril Vanier speaks with Martin Kenyon, a 91-year-old Briton who received the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. BNetzA in October 2013 received requests from operators to retire 28 power plants with a combined capacity of nearly 7 GWe, and it approved the closure of 12, with 5 GWe – ten in North-Rhine Westphalia and two in Lower Saxony in the northwest. E.ON has equity in the following nuclear plants which from January 2016 are managed by its subsidiary PreussenElektra: Gundremmingen B&C 25%, Grohnde 83.3%, Brokdorf 80%, Isar 2 75%, Emsland 12.5%. Germany has set itself a dual goal with its energy transition, or Energiewende: The country wants to move from fossil fuel-based energy generation to a largely carbon-free energy sector while also phasing out nuclear energy by 2022. It’s a mission that stretches beyond our lifetimes – the storage facility will finally be sealed sometime between the years 2130 and 2170. German nuclear power station demolished in spectacular explosion. SEVEN NETWORK AUSTRALIA, Woman loses dog under massive amounts of sea foam, Mother of kidnapped schoolboy in Nigeria calls for govt action, Mother pleads with government as more than 300 students are missing, A 104-year-old woman survives coronavirus in Madrid, Spain, See 104-year-old coronavirus survivor celebrated by hospital staff. Germany has six nuclear power reactors in operation and is in the process of phasing out its nuclear power programme. Unit A closed in 1977, before B and C began production in 1984 and 1985, with the second unit decommissioned in 2017. The first auction resulted in an average price of 5.7 c/kWh for onshore wind, compared with previous FIT levels of 8-9 c/kWh. The heat value of German lignite ranges from 7.8 to 11.3 MJ/kg, and has around 50% water content. Of the total 647.1 TWh gross generation in 2015, wind provided 86.0 TWh (13.3%) and solar 39.5 TWh (5.9%). In April 2018 the energy minister said that coal-fired output would be halved by 2030 in order to deliver a 60% cut in CO2 emissions from this source. Each unit can drop from full power by 500 MWe in 15 minutes and then recover as required, “demonstrating the power station’s ability to offset the intermittency of wind and solar power.” RWE said: “BoA 2&3 is an important element of our strategy, for modern coal and gas-fired power stations are indispensable. And in the face of huge public opposition, the government in recent years decided to start afresh its national search for a dumping ground. The BMU supervises this and can issue binding directives. In response to the proposition that Germany could almost entirely replace coal and nuclear energy within 20 years by becoming highly energy efficient and depending on power from sun and wind, 62% agreed and 26% disagreed. The main import was 5.8 TWh from Norway’s hydro. Gundremmingen A BWR was shut down following an accident in 1977. The Economist, Special report: Climate change (28 November 2015) Merkel said that she see "the light at the end of the tunnel" with the introduction of vaccines against Covid-19, though she also made an impassioned plea for tighter lockdown measures. the nuclear phase-out, the limitation of lignite mining and the ban on shale gas extraction in the light of energy security of supply concerns raised by the Ukrainian political crisis. As of 1st January 2020, 6 nuclear power plants with an electric gross output of 8,455 MW are in operation. This exemption was changed in the amended legislation after EC involvement. Apart from contesting the fuel tax, all the nuclear generators are seeking compensation for the effective confiscation of generating rights from the eight reactors ordered shut after March 2011, despite safety assurances from the regulator as noted above. EnBW supports the legal actions brought by the other utilities, saying that the government’s actions infringe its property rights. The problem of shaping our future energy supply has taken on new weight and urgency with the debate over the exit from nuclear energy, and specifically with the June 2000 agreement between the German Federal Government and the energy supply companies on limiting the period of use of the remaining nuclear power stations. It is also a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In particular, the agreement put a cap of 2623 billion kWh on lifetime production by all 19 operating reactors, equivalent to an average lifetime of 32 years (less than the 35 years sought by industry). Of the total generation, coal provided 241 TWh (37%), more than half of which was generated from the burning of lignite. With their closure comes a new challenge – finding a permanent nuclear graveyard by the government’s 2031 deadline. In May 2007 the International Energy Agency warned that Germany's decision to phase out nuclear power would limit its potential to reduce carbon emissions "without a doubt." Already in a long-term shutdown was Kruemmel and this was included despite having started up in 1984. The Czech government in 2012 complained it was close to a blackout because the German wind farms overloaded its grid. It sought compensation of €261 million, but a regional court in Bonn ruled in April 2016 that the claim could not be allowed to stand because EnBW had not immediately used “all legal means available” to avert having its two reactors – Neckarwestheim 1 and Phillipsburg 1 – shut down. Annual demand for enrichment is about 2.2 million SWU, most of which is provided by Urenco's Gronau plant, with capacity of 1.8 million SWU/yr being expanded to 4.5 million SWU/yr, following 2005 approval by the government coalition. Video Transcript [NO SPEECH] Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. Platts Power in Europe Except for small plants, most renewables power sales are to be by ‘direct marketing’ by generators, with revenue supplemented by premiums calculated as the difference between the fixed feed-in tariff and the average wholesale price of electricity. Energiewerke Nord GmbH (EWN) is wholly-owned by the German government and is responsible for the decommissioning of publicly-owned nuclear facilities and for managing the resulting radioactive wastes. Bundesverband der Energie- und Wasserwirtschaft (BDEW) Press Conference 10 January 2013, Developments in the German electricity and gas sector in 2012 Large-scale deployment of renewable capacity does not translate into a substantial displacement of thermal capacity. From Russia 270 tonnes of enriched uranium product was returned in this period. The August 2015 program did not seek an extension to the Konrad repository licence, as previously proposed, due to local opposition. It ensures the long-term financing for decommissioning, dismantling and disposal without the transfer of costs to society or jeopardizing the economic situation of operators." While nuclear plants are being built all over the world, Germany is phasing out atomic energy. In a non-binding preliminary opinion in February 2015, the EU Court of Justice found that the German nuclear fuel tax on utilities “that will be used to pay for decommissioning power reactors in the country” was legal, and that it did not violate EU taxation rules on electricity. Meanwhile Germany depends on neighbouring countries to route its power from north to south. Unlike wind and solar sources, they are highly flexible and capable of producing electricity 24/7, which makes them the trump card of energy industry transformation.” The state premier said that the plant was “an important contribution to security of supply.”. “If you opened up a canister with those fuel rods in it, you would more or less instantly die,” said Schreurs. But the most pressing challenge today might simply be finding a community willing to have a nuclear dumping ground in their backyard. Former salt mines at Asse and Morsleben, eastern Germany, that were used for low- and medium-level nuclear waste in the 1960s and 1970s, must now be closed in multibillion-dollar operations after failing to meet today’s safety standards. The report projects some 10,500 tonnes of used fuel from the operation of nuclear power plants, which could be stored in about 1100 containers. During 2015, the main exports were 23.7 TWh to Belgium (half going onto the Netherlands), 14.5 TWh to Austria, 12.5 TWh to Switzerland, 11.5 TWh to France, 8.2 TWh to the UK, 10.7 TWh to Poland. Repairs and modernisation were deemed uneconomic. The legislation reinforces the central role of the wholesale power market by allowing uncapped scarcity pricing for electricity, and outlines various capacity reserves to assist security of supply while reducing sector emissions of CO2. "In many pathways, nuclear power does play a role," said Joeri Rogelj, one of the report’s authors and a researcher at the Austrian International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, but "it was not part of the assessment whether nuclear power is a requirement" to keep to the 1.5-degree goal. Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA) has received numerous requests from operators to retire coal- and gas-fired plants which have become unprofitable, and it has approved many of these as over 10 GWe of new coal-fired capacity comes online. Germany is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as a non-nuclear weapons state. Other proposals are for a high-level waste (HLW) repository in opalinus clay, which occurs in a number of places in Germany. RWE is the largest lignite power producer, and electricity costs from lignite can be as low as €15/MWh (typically €18-24, compared with black coal €22-32 marginal costs/MWh). Failure to upgrade the electricity transmission grid would cause higher costs elsewhere. The site was first proposed in 1977 in what critics say was a political choice. It is used almost entirely for electricity production domestically or in nearby countries, though some is used for industrial heat. In 1973 planning for a national repository started, and in 1976 the Atomic Energy Act (AtG) was amended to make such disposal a responsibility of the federal government. The biggest contributor to renewable power is … All operating nuclear plants then had unlimited licences with strong legal guarantees. Fuel fabrication was on an industrial scale. The country was a “blank map” of potential sites, it added. The proposals for EEG 2016 say support for onshore wind, offshore wind and large PV plants with more than 1 MWe will be fixed in an auction system from 2017, to cover 80% of renewables generation produced in newly-installed plants each year. TenneT warned of cost and schedule delays to the SuedLink project (corridor C). A MOX plant at Hanau in Hesse has never been allowed to operate, so all MOX fuel is imported. While these investments "account for only a fraction of the cost of the energy transition, much success depends on their implementation." (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images), PHOTO: Following is a timeline of the controversy over nuclear power in Germany. About 35% of Germany’s gas is imported from Russia, and fracking is banned. Hence 90% opposed building new nuclear plants (73% in 2005). The rapid growth of renewable energy reduced wholesale prices in Germany, with adverse consequences on markets and companies. The BfS decided in 2010 that the waste should be moved from it, and rejected an alternative of filling it with concrete to provide a stable matrix for the 126,000 drums there. See later section with details of this. This is detailed in a companion information paper. A poll early in 2007 found that 61% of Germans opposed the government's plans to phase out nuclear power by 2020, while 34% favoured a phase out. The separated HLW from this was 60 m3 in liquid form, and after a series of political delays it was vitrified in 2009-10. It operated for over 750 weeks from 1967 to 1988, most of the time with thorium-based fuel. Nuclear energy then avoided the emission of about 170 million tonnes per year of carbon dioxide, compared with 260 Mt/yr being emitted by other German power plants. In May 2013 EnBW submitted applications to finally decommission and demolish sections of its Neckarwestheim 1 and Phillipsburg 1 plants. Fuelling the earlier dispute within the grand SDP-Green coalition government then in power, a January 2007 report by Deutsche Bank warned that Germany would miss its carbon dioxide emission targets by a wide margin, face higher electricity prices, suffer more blackouts and dramatically increase its dependence on gas imports from Russia as a result of its nuclear phase-out policy, if it were followed through. In May 2011 the Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission (RSK, Reactor Safety Commission) reported that all German reactors were basically sound, and safe. In 1963 the federal government issued a recommendation to use geological salt formations for radioactive waste disposal. Other elements included: a government commitment not to introduce any "one-sided" economic or taxation measures, a recognition by the government of the high safety standards of German nuclear plants and a guarantee not to erode those standards, the resumption of spent fuel transports for reprocessing in France and UK for five years or until contracts expire, and maintenance of two waste repository projects (at Konrad and Gorleben). In 2007, Nukem reported that it had recovered the expertise for this and was making it available as industry support. These comprised four operating VVER-440s, a fifth one under construction and a small older VVER reactor. In February 2017 EnBW received a decommissioning and dismantling licence for Neckarwestheim 1; and in April 2017 the same for Phillipsburg 1 from the Baden-Württemberg ministry of environment. In October 2015 the government approved plans for about 1000 km of high-voltage transmission lines from the north and close to populated areas to be built underground. The Finadvice report in July 2014 said that the lessons learned from the German Energiewende included: Following the September 2013 elections, the CDU-led government pledged to reform the 2000 Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG – Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz), diminishing the reliance on feed-in tariffs for new solar and wind power output and favouring dispatchable generation which can respond to demand. In addition RWE and E.ON have 2650 MWe in the Netherlands. In 2012 eight reactors were prematurely shut down by government edict, for political reasons. Refuelling five units until January and February 2017 preponderance of coal makes the country and beyond in! Kwu but not built estimates than the international average water content made by the other utilities, that. 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