Gas shortage looms in Germany: government advises buying emergency generators
Created: 07/03/2022Updated: 07/03/2022 11:26 am
By: Sophia Lother
Gas could become scarce in Germany.
(symbol photo) © Jan Woitas/dpa
Gas could soon become scarce in Germany.
The Federal Network Agency boss gives details on who could be affected by rationing and gives savings tips.
Update from Sunday, July 3, 11:25 a.m .:
In view of the impending gas shortage in Germany, the federal government has recommended companies to stock up on emergency generators.
As the
Bild newspaper
reported, citing a response from Economics Secretary Patrick Graichen (Greens) to CSU member of the Bundestag Stephan Pilsinger, the units are intended to compensate for possible power outages.
"Equipping with emergency generators is particularly recommended for operators of critical infrastructure," writes Graichen.
The reason is that there is no "shutdown sequence" in the event of a crisis.
"In the event of a shortage of gas or electricity", the Federal Network Agency takes over the function of the federal load distributor.
"They are then responsible for the distribution of gas or electricity in close coordination with the network operators," the government's response continues.
Graichen therefore recommends that the emergency generators should have a bridging time of 72 hours.
Threatening gas shortage in Germany: network agency boss warns of unequal supply
In view of this, the head of the Federal Network Agency has once again chosen clear words with regard to an unequal supply of gas: “The moment the pressure in the gas network in a region falls below a certain minimum level, hundreds of thousands of gas boilers would suddenly be hit jump in the fuse,” said Klaus Müller to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“It would have to be manually activated again by trained specialists if gas were available in the region again.” No one could want such a scenario, “because it would take a very long time to restore the gas supply.
So it will always be the aim of the Federal Network Agency, if necessary, to order reductions in industrial consumption so that this scenario does not occur.
Gas shortage threatens in Germany: network agency head becomes clear - and gives savings tips
First report from Saturday, July 2nd:
Bonn – Is the gas supply in Germany secured in view of the Ukraine conflict?
The Federal Network Agency fears a total failure of Russian gas supplies and is calling for greater efforts to save energy.
The question is whether the upcoming regular maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline "will become a longer-lasting political maintenance," said network agency boss Klaus Müller to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
If the gas flow from Russia is "politically motivated to be lowered for a longer period of time, we have to talk more seriously about savings".
But what can consumers do?
The head of the Federal Network Agency gives tips:
Gas shortages in Germany are imminent: the head of the Federal Network Agency becomes clear
The twelve weeks before the start of the heating season must be used to make preparations, warned Müller.
He appealed to all house and apartment owners to have their gas condensing boilers and radiators checked quickly and adjusted efficiently.
"Maintenance can reduce gas consumption by ten to 15 percent," said the head of the agency.
"It has to happen now and not just in the fall."
also read
Driver's license exchange: the deadline expires for many in July - then there is a risk of a fine
Driver's license exchange: For many, the deadline expires in July - drivers must act
In order to overcome bottlenecks in the craftsmen's appointments, Müller called on all craftsmen to concentrate on heating and hot water supply.
At the same time, Müller warned against using the wrong accents when saving energy.
"The crisis situation relates to gas - and not to electricity," he said.
Germany is not facing a power shortage.
“We also have no shortage of petrol and oil.
It's all available.
I advocate focusing on gas.”
The Netzagentur boss’s tips at a glance:
Gas condensing boilers and radiators checked and adjusted efficiently
Maintenance can save up to 15 percent consumption
Craft appointments: focus on heating and hot water
Gas in Germany is in danger of becoming scarce: who would be affected by rationing?
Network agency boss Müller explained to the Funke newspapers who possible gas rationing could affect.
In a gas emergency, "we cannot classify every operation as systemically important," he said.
“We have to be very careful in critical areas such as parts of the food and pharmaceutical industries.
On the other hand, products and offers that fall into the leisure and well-being area would be of secondary importance.
Swimming pools are probably not in the critical area, as is the production of chocolate chip cookies.”
At the same time, Müller emphasized that the network agency sees “no scenario in which no more gas comes to Germany”.
Germany can be supplied from Norway and the Netherlands, among others.
Gas-saving tips for the kitchen, bathroom and the rest of the apartment: an overview of where you can start.
Gas emergency plan in Germany: Gas prices have exploded
On June 23, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) declared the second crisis level in the gas emergency plan, the so-called alarm level.
This is the second stage of the three-stage contingency plan.
Russia has severely restricted the amount of gas supplies to Germany – prices on the gas market have exploded.
Gas emergency plan: Drastic price increases – Federal Association of Consumers warns
In the meantime, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) has warned against passing on the drastic gas price increases directly to consumers and has called for changes to the law.
"For many people, the price increases can hardly be shouldered," said the head of the energy and building team at vzbv, Thomas Engelke, of the Düsseldorf "Rheinische Post" on Saturday.
Paragraph 24 of the Energy Security Act urgently needs to be revised by the federal government.
"Because without changes, the energy providers could pass on the expensive exchange gas prices 1:1 to private households when the Federal Network Agency declares a gas shortage.
The extremely high gas price overwhelms millions of households,” warns the federal association.
(slo/dpa)
