> why would they then commission one this year, as stated by the article?
The answer being that it was originally commissioned decades ago, construction started 2007 and was supposed to be finished in 2011, its purpose is to replace three older blocks from the 60s which were put offline in 2014 [0].
Putting 3 old blocks offline to replace them with one modern block looks like a rather good progress.
Tho, those small steps just doen't sit well with the current popular narrative of "Let's end all fossil fuel use instantly and replace it with fission reactors everywhere!". As if changes and projects like that wouldn't take decades to retool whole industries and infrastructure.
The answer being that it was originally commissioned decades ago, construction started 2007 and was supposed to be finished in 2011, its purpose is to replace three older blocks from the 60s which were put offline in 2014 [0].
Putting 3 old blocks offline to replace them with one modern block looks like a rather good progress.
Tho, those small steps just doen't sit well with the current popular narrative of "Let's end all fossil fuel use instantly and replace it with fission reactors everywhere!". As if changes and projects like that wouldn't take decades to retool whole industries and infrastructure.
[0] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraftwerk_Datteln