Dresden, Nuenchritz If there is an Eldorado for Robert Habeck, it could be in Nünchritz in the Saxon province. The Federal Minister of Economics is driven there by bus across the Wacker Chemie factory premises. Leaning with his elbows on the grab bar in front of him, he looks out at steel constructions in which polysilicon is manufactured. On this Tuesday evening, the sun is low over Saxony and covers the sky above the plant in a rich orange.
Here in Nünchritz, everything comes together that Habeck would have wished for in his wildest dreams. Wacker produces with gas, still. The company has set ambitious goals to change that. Not despite the energy crisis, but even more so now.
And the company doesn’t make just any substance with its polysilicon. If Habeck has his way, the silicon-based substance will become the basic building block for an entire European industry. Green politicians want to build a domestic solar industry. Polysilicon is at the beginning of every photovoltaic system.
Just a few hours earlier, Habeck was less in the Eldorado and more in his personal chamber of secrets. In the State Chancellery in Dresden, he attended the cabinet meeting of Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer.
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And the CDU politician, as is well known, has little use for Habeck’s politics. Criticism ranges from the sanctions against Russia (too harsh) to the energy transition (too fast).
After the cabinet meeting, the politicians answer questions from the press. Habeck and Kretschmer both strive to stay professional. You look for commonalities. But all they find is the realization that the currently difficult situation can only be overcome together.
The Federal Minister of Economics and Saxony’s Prime Minister do not have much in common.
(Photo: Reuters)
Otherwise dominate the differences. Or as Kretschmer puts it, things “where we are dramatically apart”. With nuclear power (Kretschmer wants an extension), with the supply chain law (Kretschmer definitely doesn’t want it now), with the dividend ban for recipients of gas price brakes (Kretschmer rejects this).
There is exactly one moment in three quarters of an hour when Habeck and Kretschmer smile briefly. It is the moment when the Green pushes a cup of coffee over to the Christian Democrat.
Transformation, decarbonization, sanctions, AfD protesters
If you want to summarize Vice Chancellor Habeck’s visit to Saxony, you’d probably be right with “the full range”. Transformation, decarbonization, sovereign energy supply: Wacker Chemie could also become the headquarters for Habeck’s next election campaign. Hardly any wind power, a desire for fewer sanctions, AfD demonstrators in front of the door: the Saxon State Chancellery could probably become a stronghold for fighting Habeck’s higher ambitions.
But before the active election campaign begins, the economics minister wants to move forward with his vision of the solar industry. The most important element for this from the point of view of the Wacker management: an industrial electricity price. Or – that could also have come from the Green party headquarters – a “transformation electricity price”, as one of the managing directors says.
All stages in the value chain in the solar industry are clearly in Chinese hands, also because the electricity prices there are many times lower. From Habeck’s point of view, this is an enormous economic risk. He can therefore understand the desire for a price subsidy, explains the Green at Wacker. But that is very expensive, and not everyone in the federal government was convinced of it. Greetings, as so often, to Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP.
Robert Habeck inspecting the hall that Frank-Walter Steinmeier never entered.
(Photo: Reuters)
But Habeck wants to find a way. Contracts for difference for climate protection are to be expected this year. The state assumes the additional costs that companies incur compared to conventional production if they rely on climate-neutral technologies.
And next year, special electricity supply contracts would follow, linking the supply of bulk consumers directly to the operation of renewable energy sources.
The hope in the North Germans is great. At Wacker, they court the Federal Minister of Economics even more than the head of state. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the site in 2017. Most employees are not even allowed into the heart of the plant, where the polysilicon is kept clean. Neither did Steinmeier at the time. Habeck already.
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