Germany announces that it will turn to coal due to the cut in Russian gas supply

The Government of Germany has decided to reactivate its old coal plants, a fuel that it had promised to abandon before 2030, given the risk of a lack of energy supply due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as confirmed this Sunday by the Minister of Economy and Energy, the green Robert Habeck.

The country sets aside its goal of decarbonisation to face the current situation, in which it runs the risk of a gas supply cut from Russia.

The measure, which seeks to accelerate the reduction of its current energy dependence on Moscow and allows the German country to somehow guarantee its electricity supply, contrasts with the closure of its last nuclear reactors.

The country will have to increase coal burning, Habeck has said.

The goal is to deal with Moscow's restriction.

Russian gas company Gazprom announced on June 15 that it was cutting supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for technical reasons, alleging delays in repairs to compressor turbines by German company Siemens Energy.

Germany has come under intense criticism in the past, particularly from the US, for its reliance on cheap Russian energy sources, which Washington has always seen as a security risk to Europe.

“To reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity.

Instead, coal-fired power plants will have to be used more," the Ministry of Economy said in a statement.

At the beginning of this legislature, the coalition government of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals set out to accelerate the schedule for the goodbye to coal, scheduled for 2030, but already anticipated in May that it might be necessary to extend the period of activity in the face of the energy crisis.

Habeck has also reported on other measures, such as pumping more gas to storage facilities.

“Otherwise it will be very tight in the winter,” he said.

Currently, gas storage facilities in Germany are around 57% full.

Habeck has lamented the need to use more coal to produce electricity, but has described the current situation as serious.

“That is bitter, but it is simply necessary,” he has said.

The coalition government has also proposed initiatives to reduce private energy consumption, such as imposing a cap on domestic heating.

In addition, he wants to launch a gas auction model this summer to encourage gas savings by the industry.

The mechanism, developed by the Ministry of Economy, the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) and the coordinator of the gas market area in Germany, Trading Hub Europe (THE), will compensate companies that make gas available to the market in situations of scarcity.

The saved gas will be stored.

On the other hand, the Government is planning an additional credit line of 15,000 million euros through the state bank KfW to allow the manager of the German gas market area Trading Hub Europe (THE) to buy gas to fill the storage facilities .