Gas crisis: France wants to help Germany out in winter
Created: 2022-07-27Updated: 2022-07-27 9:31 PM
By: Patricia Huber
The gas delivery volume through Nord Stream 1 continues to decrease.
But the required filling level of 90 percent could still be reached by November 1st.
The latest information on the gas crisis in the news ticker.
France
comes to
Germany
's aid: Neighboring country offers to deliver gas to Germany in winter.
Gas storage targets
could be achieved: If Nord Stream 1 continues to supply 20 percent, the storage facilities could be 90 percent full by November.
Federal government
accuses
Russia of "power games"
: A government spokeswoman also made it clear that Gazprom would no longer be relied on.
This news ticker on the gas crisis is constantly updated.
Update from July 27, 9:03 p.m .:
Gas in Germany could become scarce in winter, but help may now come from a neighbor.
France has now apparently offered to deliver gas to Germany in the winter.
This was reported by the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, citing information from government officials.
Overall, it could be about 20 terawatt hours and thus about two percent of German annual consumption.
"We want to help our European partners and are ready to deliver gas to Germany if there is a request for solidarity," said the Ministry of Energy in Paris, according to
Handelsblatt
information.
In France, most people heat with electric heaters, which is why the country is less dependent on gas.
In return, the neighbor could need electricity from Germany.
The Handelsblatt
quotes the French Ministry of Energy
as saying that an agreement could be concluded in the coming weeks .
Gas News: EU Commissioner sees the European Union strengthened by the Ukraine war
Update from July 27, 6:35 p.m.:
The EU Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, believes that Europe solved the gas problem before Putin found new gas customers.
The EU politician said that on Wednesday to the online portal of the
Neue Westfälische Zeitung
.
The Austrian even sees the EU as stronger: "The most recent crises, from the corona pandemic to the Ukraine war, have led to increased cooperation within Europe." The member states have recognized that they are better off together than alone.
"This collaboration will not go away," Hahn is certain.
As a market with 450 million inhabitants, the EU is “by far the most attractive market in the world.” That means power.
Working together leads to solving problems.
But it is now also a matter of providing targeted support to people who cannot afford the rising energy prices.
Gas-News: Austria is apparently planning to introduce an electricity price brake
Update from July 27, 3:32 p.m .:
Due to the enormous inflation, Austria would like to introduce an electricity price brake.
This should take effect from autumn.
According to oe24
, details will be
worked out in the summer.
In Germany, too, the price of electricity has risen sharply in recent months.
Just recently, the cost of a megawatt hour on the electricity exchange climbed to almost 600 euros.
According to the
Handelsblatt
, this is a record value.
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Pension increase on July 1: Pensioners need to know that now
Gas storage targets could be achieved - news about the crisis
Update from July 27, 2:56 p.m .:
The German natural gas storage operators assume that gas can continue to be stored despite the renewed reduction in delivery volumes from Russia.
If LNG imports continue to be high, it is very likely that a filling level of over 90 percent can be reached by November 1st, said the managing director of the Initiative Energies Storage (INES) industry association, Sebastian Bleschke, on Wednesday of the
German Press Agency
.
The calculation is based on the assumption that gas transport through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline will only be at 20 percent of maximum capacity from Wednesday onwards.
If this gas were to fall away as well, the situation would have to be further evaluated, said Bleschke.
In this context, he pointed out that the gas flows via Nord Stream 1 have already been reduced to such an extent that they are less important when it comes to storage.
"Despite reduced gas flows on Nord Stream 1, a significant amount has been stored in recent days," he emphasized.
On Monday, the German storage was 66.8 percent full, more recent data is not available.
The federal government wants to stipulate in a regulation that the German storage tanks must be 95 percent full by November 1st.
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a kind of buffer system for the gas market.
They are usually well filled when the heating season begins in autumn.
On cold winter days, up to 60 percent of gas consumption in Germany is covered by German storage facilities.
Federal government accuses Russia of gas "power play".
Update from July 27, 2:24 p.m .:
The federal government has accused Russia of a power play because of the throttling of gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline.
"As before, we see no technical reasons for this," said a government spokeswoman on Wednesday.
"What we're seeing here is actually a power play, and we're not going to be impressed by that." A serviced turbine is ready to be handed over to the Russian energy company Gazprom so that it can be used.
Robert Habeck (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, leaves after a press statement on energy and security of supply.
(Archive) © Michael Kappeler/dpa
The spokeswoman made it clear that Germany could no longer rely on Russia as a gas supplier.
The federal government has launched many measures to diversify the energy infrastructure and reduce consumption.
"We are continuously working on further measures."
Meanwhile, the Federal Network Agency explains that the situation is tense and "a further deterioration of the situation" cannot be ruled out.
The gas supply in Germany is stable at the moment.
Kremlin rejects allegations of leverage in gas dispute over Nord Stream 1: "Gazprom is reliable"
Update from July 27, 1:10 p.m .:
The Kremlin has rejected criticism that the throttling of gas supplies is a means of pressure to force an end to Western sanctions.
According to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the decline in deliveries was solely related to the technical possibilities.
"Gazprom is and remains a reliable guarantor of fulfilling its obligations, but it cannot guarantee pumping if the import units cannot be serviced because of European sanctions."
Gas delivery: Uniper only receives 20 percent
Update from July 27, 12:07 p.m .:
After further gas throttling by Russia, the energy company Uniper only receives part of the quantities ordered.
The group will receive 20 percent of the guaranteed deliveries from Gazprom, a Uniper spokesman said on Wednesday.
A withdrawal of gas from the storage can be avoided.
The state-owned company Gazprom had announced that it would reduce utilization of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from 40 to 20 percent of maximum capacity.
Uniper supplies more than 100 German municipal utilities with gas.
There are also industrial companies.
Aiwanger would like to put nuclear power plants back into operation: Tüv boss gives the green light - Gas-News
Update from July 27, 11 a.m.:
Due to the tense gas situation, the continued operation of nuclear power plants in Germany is now being discussed more and more frequently.
Bavaria's Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger (free voters) even calls for the reactivation of nuclear power plants that have already been shut down.
On Tuesday on Deutschlandfunk, Aiwanger advocated the temporary continued operation of a total of six nuclear power plants.
In addition to the three reactors scheduled to be shut down at the end of this year, the three nuclear power plants Gundremmingen C, Brokdorf and Grohnde, which were taken off the grid at the end of 2021, should also be put back into operation.
According to Tüv boss Joachim Bühler, that would even be possible.
Bühler told the "Bild" newspaper that a restart would be "not a question of years, but rather of a few months or weeks" - and above all a question of political will.
"We are convinced that the three power plants are in a state of safety that would make it possible to connect them to the grid again." The nuclear power plants are among the safest and technically best in the world.
Due to the uncertainties in the gas supply, the continued operation of the nuclear power plants that are still in operation is now being discussed.
© Armin Weigel/dpa
Delivery volume throttled via Nord Stream 1: gas prices are rising - news about the crisis
Update from July 27, 10:08 a.m .:
After corresponding announcements, the amount of Russian natural gas delivered via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline fell on Wednesday morning.
This is the result of preliminary network data from the two connection points in Lubmin in Western Pomerania.
A good 17 million kilowatt hours arrived there 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 announced 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.
As a result of the great uncertainty, the prices for natural gas are also continuing to rise.
On Wednesday morning, the price for a megawatt hour of Dutch natural gas for delivery in August rose by around ten percent compared to the previous day to 224 euros.
The price refers to the TTF futures contract, which is used as a benchmark for gas price levels in Europe.
Gazprom books higher capacities: More gas is to flow through the Slovakia pipeline
First report from July 27, 9:51 a.m.:
Bratislava – According to the pipeline operator Eugas, the Russian energy company Gazprom booked significantly more capacity on the Transgas line through Slovakia on Wednesday than in the past few days.
In the Slovakian border town of Velké Kapuany, the starting point of the Slovakian section, the transmission of 68.6 million cubic meters of gas was announced.
The day before it was 36.8 million cubic meters.
The booking indicates that Gazprom will make up for lost gas supplies to Europe at Nord Stream 1 via the route through Slovakia.
Transgas is a pipeline that runs from Russia via Ukraine to Slovakia and to Austria and Germany.
The additional gas quantities nominated on Wednesday correspond approximately to the throttling through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which Gazprom justified with the repair of another turbine.
Booking additional capacity is not proof that Gazprom will actually send more gas.
However, there are other indications.
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.
However, this is contradicted by data from the Sudscha measuring station at the crossing between Russia and Ukraine.
The delivery quantities of 42.2 million cubic meters nominated there are practically at the level of the past few days.
The “Spiegel” also reported on the higher gas volumes booked by Slovakia.
(dpa/ph)