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Nord Stream 1 receiving station in Lubmin: only a fifth of the capacity arrives here
Photo: Stefan Sauer / dpa
Russia further restricted its gas supplies to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Wednesday morning.
According to preliminary network data from the two connection points in Lubmin in western Pomerania, a good 17 million kilowatt hours arrived between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. there were more than 27 million.
The delivery volume is likely to continue to fall.
According to the Nord Stream 1 website, a good 14 million kilowatt hours per hour were planned for the rest of the day.
The Russian company Gazprom had announced that it would reduce the capacity utilization of Nord Stream 1 from 40 percent to 20 percent.
The reason given by the group, as with a first throttling in June, was the maintenance of a turbine.
Before and after a ten-day maintenance break, during which no gas flowed at all, Gazprom still had 40 percent of its capacity.
The cuts have driven up the price of gas and put the utility Uniper under pressure, which the federal government is now helping with state aid.
Germany wants to fill up its gas storage facilities for the winter and is desperately looking for alternatives to Russian gas.
Gas price well over 200 euros
Meanwhile, European gas prices continue to skyrocket.
A megawatt hour of Dutch natural gas for delivery in August cost around ten percent more on Wednesday morning compared to the previous day - up to 224 euros.
The price refers to the TTF futures contract, which is used as a benchmark for gas price levels in Europe.
While deliveries through Nord Stream 1 are once again being significantly reduced, more capacity has recently been booked for the Transgas pipeline running through Slovakia.
It is possible that this should compensate for the missing deliveries via the Baltic Sea pipeline.
The booking of the additional capacity is not proof that Gazprom will actually send more gas through the pipeline.
However, the operator of the Ukrainian pipeline section TSOU complained on Tuesday that the Russian gas giant had increased the pressure in the pipelines there without warning.
This suggests that Gazprom is pumping more gas through the pipeline.
First savings in Germany
Transgas is a pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine to Slovakia and to Austria and Germany.
The additional gas volumes nominated on Wednesday roughly correspond to the throttling through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.
gas contingency plan
ExpandBackground pane
The gas emergency plan is based on an EU regulation from 2017 that defines measures to secure the gas supply in the event of a crisis.
It provides for three escalation levels: the early warning level, the alert level and the emergency level.
Expand areaEarly warning level
The
early warning
level can be declared when there are concrete, serious and reliable indications of a possible event that is likely to lead to a significant deterioration in the gas supply situation.
It was
activated by the Federal Ministry of Economics on
March 30, 2022 .
The Russian government had previously threatened to stop gas supplies to Europe if the raw material was not paid for in rubles in the future.
Expand Alert Level area
The
alert level indicates
a disruption in the gas supply or an exceptionally high demand for gas that leads to a significant deterioration in the gas supply situation.
However, the market is still able to cope with this disruption or high demand on its own.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has the alarm level on
June 24, 2022
announced after the Russian pipeline monopoly Gazprom cut the flow of gas through the particularly important Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 by 60 percent.
In concrete terms, the alert level means that energy suppliers and regional network operators can try to shed loads - for example, no longer supply those customers who have agreed so-called switch-off clauses in their contracts.
These customers purchase gas at lower prices, but have agreed not to be supplied in the event of bottlenecks.
The law also stipulates that energy suppliers can pass on their increased purchasing costs to customers at this stage – despite existing price-fixing clauses.
However, the Federal Network Agency must first have identified a significant reduction in gas imports to Germany.
Expand areaEmergency level
The
emergency level
is not activated yet.
It is proclaimed when market mechanisms are no longer sufficient to guarantee supply and the state has to intervene.
In this case, the Federal Network Agency would decide which companies would still get gas and which would have to be rationed or even shut down.
However, certain areas are specially protected by law and will continue to be supplied with gas until the very end if possible.
This includes private households, but also hospitals, educational institutions and public administration.
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, said about the recent throttling of Nord Stream 1 on Deutschlandfunk: "We are currently seeing the nominated throttling".
Gazprom is supplying 20 percent of the capacity.
"We'll see in the course of the day whether it stays that way."
Müller warned: "Germany must use less gas." The head of the network agency criticized that gas is now part of Russian foreign policy, the Russian war strategy.
It is unrealistic to assume that 40 percent of the possible volume will come through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline in the coming weeks.
The president of the network agency praised the first "successful savings".
Private households and industry use “five, six, seven percent less gas, even adjusted for temperature”.
Now in the summer it is possible to store gas.
"The situation changes in autumn, gas consumption increases," he warned.
A supply stop by Russia has been considered a major economic risk for Europe since the Ukraine war, as many countries are heavily dependent on gas supplies from Russia.
Economists warn of a recession if deliveries fail completely.
Apr/Reuters/AFP/dpa