Germany on Thursday activated the second phase of its three-stage gas emergency program, taking it one step closer to rationing supplies to industry, a step that would be a major blow to the heart of its manufacturing. economy.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he hoped the rationing would not be necessary to spend the coming winter, but he could not rule it out.
“Gas is now in short supply in Germany,” he told reporters at a news conference in Berlin. “Even if you don’t feel it yet: we’re in a gas crisis.”
Europe’s energy crisis intensified this month as Russia further reduced supplies to Germany, Italy and other members of the European Union.
Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom cut Nord Stream 1 pipeline flows to Germany by 60 percent last week, blaming the measure on the West’s decision to withhold vital turbines due to sanctions. Italian energy giant ENI said Gazprom was reducing its supply by 15%.
Twelve EU countries have so far been affected by cuts in Russian gas supplies, the bloc’s climate chief, Frans Timmermans, said on Thursday.
“Russia has armed its energy and we have seen new gas outages announced in recent days. All of this is part of Russia’s strategy to undermine our unity,” Timmermans told EU lawmakers.
“So the risk of a total gas outage is now more real than ever,” he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that cuts in Russian gas supplies to Europe were the result of technical problems, rather than political reasons, and added that “there was no hidden agenda.”
“Economic confrontation”
Habeck called on all consumers – industry, households and public institutions – to reduce their consumption as much as possible “so that we can spend the winter”.
European prices for natural gas futures have skyrocketed by around 60% since the middle of this month to around 133 euros ($ 140) per megawatt hour (MWh), levels last seen in March, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange.
Habeck said that while German gas storage facilities are 58% full, more than at this time last year, the goal of reaching 90% in December will not be achieved without more measures.
“We are in an economic confrontation with Russia,” Habeck said.
Gazprom’s recent restriction on gas flows comes after it had cut off supplies to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, and to energy companies in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands for refusing to comply with the Kremlin’s demand to pay rubles.
Switching to coal
Germany, Austria and other EU countries are now turning to coal and oil power plants so that more gas can be diverted to storage to heat homes during the winter.
Europe has been trying to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas since the invasion of Ukraine in late February. Germany has managed to reduce Moscow’s share of its imports to 35% from 55% before the start of the war.
But his options for finding alternative supplies had an impact last week when a major U.S. liquefied natural gas producer said its Texas facility would be completely shut down for 90 days after a fire broke out. Freeport LNG has produced about one-fifth of U.S. LNG exports so far this year, according to analysis firm Vortexa.
Germany activated the first phase of “early warning” of its emergency energy program in March. The “alarm” phase declared on Thursday would be followed by an “emergency” if the situation worsens further. In this state of high alert, regulators can rationize gas to maintain supply to “protected customers,” such as homes and hospitals. Industrial users would be the first to deal with the cuts.
– Anna Cooban, Sharon Braithwaite, James Frater, Anna Chernova, and Benjamin Brown contributed to this article.