Photo: The Canadian Press
German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck arrives for a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday, June 23, 2022.
Germany on Thursday activated the second phase of its three-stage emergency plan for natural gas supply, saying Europe’s largest economy is facing a “crisis” and warning that storage targets for in winter they are at risk due to declining deliveries from Russia.
The government said the decision to raise the level to “alarm” follows the cuts in Russian gas flows made since June 14 and rising energy prices exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. The third and highest stage is the “emergency” level.
“The situation is serious and winter will come,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
“The reduction in gas supply is an economic attack on us by Putin (Russian President Vladimir),” he said. “We will defend ourselves against this. But our country will have to follow a stony path now.”
Russia last week reduced gas flows to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, just as European Union countries are struggling to fill the storage of fuel used to generate electricity, electricity and heating. homes in the winter. Russia’s energy giant Gazprom blamed a missing part sent to Canada to repair cuts to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, Europe’s main natural gas pipeline.
It has been added to gas closures in Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, France and the Netherlands in recent weeks.
The German government said it is meeting current gas demands and that its gas storage facilities are filling 58% of its capacity, more than at this time last year. But the goal of reaching 90% by December will not be possible without further action, he said.
“Although we still don’t feel it: we’re in a gas crisis,” Habeck said.
He said Germany would not react to the situation by maintaining all the supplies it receives and cutting off neighboring countries. Instead, the government urged industry and residents in Germany to reduce their consumption as much as possible.
“Prices are already high and we need to be prepared for further increases,” Habeck said. “This will affect industrial production and become a huge burden for many producers.”
To reduce demand, the government plans to hold auctions that would allow large industrial consumers to receive money if they give up their contracts.
Since the declaration of the first phase of its emergency plan in March, Germany and other countries have tried to obtain additional gas from European neighbors such as the Netherlands and Norway, as well as liquefied natural gas from Gulf producers and beyond.
To the horror of environmentalists, the government also announced on Sunday that it would increase the combustion of more polluting coal and reduce the use of gas for electricity production.
The government said it had informed European partners of the measure in advance.