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Robert Habeck: Energy policy arm wrestling with the Kremlin boss
Photo: Sebastian Iwersen / dpa
Russia has turned off the gas tap a fair bit, according to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck, this is an extremely difficult situation for Germany.
"I don't want to beat around the bush: it's a tense, serious situation," said the Green politician on Sunday evening on ZDF's "heute journal".
"It was always clear that we were heavily dependent on gas."
Habeck was also confident that the supply could be secured for the coming winter.
»What is decisive is that the gas storage tanks are full by winter – at 90 percent«.
It is currently around 57 percent – the difference has to be made up through purchases and thrift.
If the storage is full, this is enough for about two and a half months without any further sources.
However, it is planned that Germany will continue to import gas from abroad in winter - even if there is no more flow from Russia.
It was “a kind of arm wrestling” in which Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin initially had the longer arm, said Habeck.
"But that doesn't mean we can't get the stronger arm through exertion," Habeck said.
The Vice Chancellor wants to reduce the use of gas for power generation and industry and more coal-fired power plants are to be used.
They are intended to replace electricity generation in natural gas-fired power plants as far as possible in order to save natural gas.
The Russian state-owned company Gazprom had significantly reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream Baltic Sea pipeline in the past few days.
Coal-fired power plants should provide a short-term replacement
The industry supports Habeck's plans to compensate for the falling deliveries.
Industry President Siegfried Russwurm said: "We have to reduce gas consumption as much as possible, every kilowatt hour counts."
Germany must also find as many other energy sources as possible in order to free itself from its dependence on Russia.
Companies would have to switch to oil, for example, where that could be done.
“But a number of industrial processes only work with gas.
A lack of gas threatens to bring production to a standstill,” warned the President of the Federation of German Industries.
Gas-fired power generation must be stopped and coal-fired power plants pulled from the reserve immediately, said Russwurm.
"Currently, it's about short-term bridging measures to secure the energy supply, not about a date for phasing out coal in 2038 or 2030." Renewable energies should be massively accelerated.
»Germany must finally say goodbye to paralyzing small-small debates and blocking attitudes and let off the brakes on the expansion of renewables.
Politics and administration must switch on the turbo as soon as possible for the designation of new areas for wind and solar power plants and for faster approvals.«
Habeck is currently planning additional steps to save gas and increase precaution.
For example, the use of gas for power generation and industry is to be reduced, and the energy minister is now considering increasing the use of coal power again.
The filling of the gas storage is to be promoted in order to be prepared for the winter.
On the other hand, he doesn't think extending the operating times of nuclear power plants is a good idea, partly because the fuel elements required for this are not available at short notice.
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, told the "Tagesspiegel" that temporarily relying more on coal-fired power plants for electricity generation was not an easy decision in terms of climate policy.
“However, it is necessary to reduce gas consumption when generating electricity.”
Even if Germany could at least cushion the throttling of gas volumes from Russia, according to the Essen-based energy company RWE, high gas and electricity prices could continue for years to come.
CEO Markus Krebber told the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" about the bottlenecks: "It will probably take three to five years." It takes time before new capacities are created and other countries can supply additional energy.
Krebber also welcomed an interim comeback of coal.
"Everywhere where you can switch to other energy sources, this should happen."
According to him, RWE is also currently receiving "significantly less than the agreed amounts" of gas from Russia.
The group, which operates gas and coal-fired power plants in Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands, must now buy the fuel at significantly higher and further increasing prices.
In view of the tense situation, he also defended the planned expansion of the Garzweiler II opencast lignite mine against criticism from environmentalists.
»Planned mining progress is important – especially as we prepare for gas-saving scenarios.«
apr/dpa
