Feb 082012
Due to the Arctic cold front, Germany has been forced to bring several reactors which went offline last year back on line.
The upward surge in electricity demand prompted Germany's network operators to call upon nuclear power plants left in reserve as a "preventative measure".
Germany decided to phase out nuclear power by 2022 in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan last March.
Eight of Germany's 17 reactors were immediately taken off line, but five of them are serving as reserve generators in case electricity demand cannot be met from other sources.
In December, Germany imported power from neighboring Austria to stabilize its network.