Berlin is already thinking about rationing gas.
The next winter is likely to be harsh and the accommodation poorly heated.
Germany is running for gas shortages and will have to make "very difficult societal choices" for households and businesses if Russian deliveries drop further, Economy Minister Robert Habeck warned on Friday. also vice-chancellor.
On Tuesday, he didn't mince his words: he called the drop in Russian gas supplies to Europe a deliberate "economic attack".
On Thursday, Germany activated the "alert level" on its gas supply.
“Certain industrial sectors would have to be closed (...) All market economy processes would then be suspended.
For some sectors, it would be catastrophic.
We are not talking about two days or two weeks, but about a long period.
We are talking here about people who would be unemployed, of regions which would lose entire industrial complexes,” he explained in an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel.
The risk of a gas shortage this winter has become clearer since the Russian energy company Gazprom drastically reduced its deliveries via the Nord Stream gas pipeline on which Germany is particularly dependent.
Berlin fears that Russia will completely cut off this supply route.
An unprecedented situation
“We are already in a situation where Germany has never been.
Just if Russian gas supplies remain as low as they are now, we are running into a gas shortage,” the Vice-Chancellor warned, adding: “It will be fair this winter anyway.
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Germany is trying to compensate for the drying up by buying from other producers and accelerating the development of infrastructure for importing liquefied natural gas.
The country will also temporarily increase the use of coal and the government is urging the 41 million households to save energy.
If that is not enough, "we will have to make very difficult societal choices", explained the minister.
In the event of gas rationing, European regulations give priority to households over businesses, but “these regulations were designed for short-term, not long-term, supply interruptions,” said the minister.
35% dependent on Russian gas imports for its consumption, and in particular the needs of industry, the leading European economy accuses Russia of carrying out a strategy of reducing flows to Europe to destabilize the energy market.
Nord Stream in maintenance from July 11
Since last week, deliveries via Nord Stream are down 60%, Gazprom arguing a technical problem.
Germany is all the more apprehensive about the regular maintenance that Nord Stream must undergo from July 11, stopping all flow for ten days.
According to the scenarios of the Federal Network Agency, the gas shortage would occur from “mid-December” in the event of a total stoppage of Russian deliveries.
The Kremlin said Thursday that flows will increase again as soon as the missing turbines for the pipeline are delivered.