Industry to monitor German energy switchover

BERLIN – Germany's powerful industry lobby group says it will independently monitor the country's ambitious switchover from nuclear power to renewable energies over the next decade.

Hans-Peter Keitel, head of the BDI lobby group, on Monday criticized the government's lack of resolve in following up on last year's decision to speed up phasing out all nuclear power by 2022.

Keitel says the energy switchover in Europe's biggest economy amounts to "open heart surgery" and requires "intense monitoring and professional management."

He says the BDI group, which supports the switchover decision, is now launching a monitoring initiative enlisting two research institutes and a consultant to ensure a more timely and professional oversight of the mammoth project.