France is reopening a closed gas pipeline to Germany

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Natural gas storage facility in Rhineland-Palatinate: Capacity for up to two percent of Germany's needs

Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa

France is putting a shut down gas pipeline back into operation in the border area with Rhineland-Palatinate.

The pipeline, which was actually built for deliveries to France, is now to bring gas to Germany in the winter, say French government officials.

According to the information, the capacities of the pipeline are sufficient to supply up to two percent of Germany's requirements.

On Monday, Germany and France agreed on energy supplies in the crisis and achieved an unusual result compared to expectations.

France receives electricity from Germany because the nuclear power plants in the country do not meet the demand adequately: Many reactors are currently switched off due to low water levels and high temperatures in the rivers and also because of a large maintenance backlog.

Conversely, gas is to flow to Germany through a pipeline originally intended to transport the fuel to France.

EU energy ministers meet on Friday to discuss how to limit the dramatic rise in energy prices.

According to the Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela, two proposals in particular are being discussed.

On the one hand, it is about whether gas-fired power plants will be temporarily removed from the system for determining electricity prices.

On the other hand, prices from cheaper producers such as wind and solar parks or nuclear and coal-fired power plants could be capped.

Functionality of the German surcharge still open

The heads of the traffic light coalition had announced an electricity price brake in Berlin at the weekend, the details of which are still unclear.

Households and presumably also companies should be able to cover their basic consumption at reduced rates.

In this context, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) should also skim off special profits from energy companies on the electricity market caused by the crisis.

How this can be achieved is also still open.

mike/Reuters