The once-stable German energy market is in disarray. Less than 12 months after ratifying a new deal to extend the country’s extensive nuclear p ower program to 2036, German chancellor Angela Merkel last spring performed a swift turnabout following the Fukushima meltdown in Japan, and ordered that all nuclear plants must close by 2022. Eight of Germany’s 17 reactors were shut down immediately.
For the “Big Four” utilities that provide 80 percent of Germany’s electricity generationEnBW AG, E.ON AG, RWE AG, and Vattenfall ABthe decision was a devastating blow, representing a significant loss of revenue. For the law firms that advise the Big Four, which include Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hengeler Mueller, and Gleiss Lutz, among others [see "Powerhouses,"], the end of Germany’s nuclear industry promises to create new opportunities in the country’s once-sleepy energy sector and could fundamentally change the pecking order of law firms practicing there.
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