(Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel encouraged Spain and Portugal to invest more in solar energy and said they need a better link to France amid a push for a unified European power grid.
“The connection between France and the Iberian peninsula is a huge problem,” Merkel said Saturday in her weekly podcast. “These are, for example, two countries in which solar power naturally could be expanded.”
Merkel's government has promoted wind and solar energy as the country prepares for the closure of its last nuclear power stations in 2022, transforming the country's power markets. Green output met 29 percent of Germany's electricity demand last year, about the same as in 2015, but far exceeding the 11 percent level of a decade earlier.
The European Union is aiming to break down national barriers for power, which could make supplies more secure and lower costs thanks to more trade across national borders.
--With assistance from Weixin Zha
To contact the reporter on this story: Naomi Kresge in Berlin at nkresge@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net, Rene Vollgraaff, Paul Armstrong
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