Energyforum

Speaking at an industry event in Essen on Tuesday, he said that "the average citizen understands very little apart from the fact that climate change is important".

Bernotat referred to public opinions polls which revealed that 96 per cent of those asked were in favour of solar power, 47 per cent for wind, 24 for nuclear and 7 per cent for coal. "This is the opposite of what we actually need," he said, lamenting the level of misinformation amongst the population in Germany.

Lars Josefsson, CEO of Vattenfall, expressed a similar view, urging a discussion on climate issues based around facts and reasoned debate. "Energy will become more expensive," he stated, saying that all sides in the needed "to deal with each other more seriously”.

Both industry heads highlighted the nuclear debate as one where more rational discussion was needed. Bernotat argued that this debate in Germany was preventing the country from defining a long-term energy policy. "Nuclear energy contributes to the solution but is not the solution itself," he said.

New coal plants
Asked by a member of the audience whether E.ON would continue with plans to construct a new 600 MW coal-fired plant in Hesse, Bernotat said: "We have bought components for all our plants. Whether we will be able to build our new coal fired plants will depend on the will of society”.

The leading SPD candidate in Hesse Andrea Ypsilanti had spoken out against the new Staudinger plant during the election campaign in the state. A new government has yet to be formed in Hesse following the election last month, which ended in a dead-heat between the SPD and its main rival, the CDU.