Berlin, 11 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The imminent end of Germany's nuclear power generation could lead to an energy supply crunch and higher prices, the head of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) warned.

Even though natural gas prices have tumbled in recent months - after soaring in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - Germany is still "not yet out of the woods," DIHK president Peter Adrian told Tuesday's edition of the Rheinische Post newspaper.

"Despite lower gas prices, energy costs remain high for most businesses in Germany," he said. "We must continue to do everything we can to expand the supply of energy and by no means restrict it further."

"This is the only way we can avoid or at least mitigate supply bottlenecks and another massive increase in energy prices in the coming months."

Adrian said the three remaining nuclear plants should keep "running until the end of the crisis" and not be shut down as planned on Saturday.

Germany's nuclear power plants were all meant to be offline by the end of 2022 in a policy agreed by former chancellor Angela Merkel in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

But the fallout of the Ukraine war and a cut in Russian gas supplies left Germany struggling to guarantee that the lights will stay on, businesses will operate normally and homes will stay warm during the colder months. That prompted the government to extend the operations of the last three plants to April 15.