Households in Germany are already trying to save energy.
For the possibility of complete cessation of the supply of Russian gas within July warned the Minister of Economy Robert Hubbek and announced the reopening of coal-fired power plants, as well as the start of negotiations for the rescue of the gas company Uniper, which is affected by the reduction of the supply from Gazprom. Calls for energy savings in the meantime seem to be paying off, as German households have already cut back on consumption.
“The government’s efforts to secure gas supplies during the winter are a struggle against time. “With full tanks, we can withstand two and a half months in the middle of winter,” Mr Habek told a conference of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, noting that gas supplies from Norway, Italy, the Netherlands and Algeria had already increased. At the same time, in addition to the preparation of LNG liquefied natural gas terminals, work is underway to increase capacity at warehouses located in the ports of Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
From July 11 and for about 10 days, the annual maintenance works on the Russian-German pipeline are scheduled Nord Stream 1However, the Minister of Economy did not rule out the interruption of the supply to become permanent on the part of Russia. “Based on what we have seen so far, it would not be a surprise if they told us: yes, now we can not reopen the supply, we found something during maintenance and… finally,” said Mr Habeck.
In order to save as much gas as possible in view of the winter, the federal government has also decided to reopen coal-fired power plants. The relevant legislation is expected to be passed by the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council within July.
However, the tense situation in the energy market has already resulted in one of the largest suppliers in Germany, Uniper, to seek refuge in the state seeking financial support. According to the economy ministry, the government has already begun talks to rescue the company. Uniper was forced to significantly revise its forecasts for the current year due to the limited supply of gas from Russia. As it announced today, since mid-June it has received only 40% of the contractually guaranteed quantities of gas from Gazprom, as a result of which it has been forced to procure from other sources at a much higher price. The share of the company, which is listed on MDAX, with the majority stake belonging to the Finnish Fortum, collapsed today, with losses of up to 23%.
Households in Germany however, they are already trying to save energy. The Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) announced today that between January and May, gas consumption decreased by 14.3% compared to the same period last year. In addition to the mild spring weather, rising gas prices have played an important role in limiting consumption, according to BDEW.
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