Gas emergency plan in force: Germany must drastically reduce gas consumption

Created: 08/09/2022, 09:01

By: Helena Gries

The EU gas emergency plan has come into force.

In winter, 15 percent of natural gas should be saved voluntarily.

For Germany, that would be 10 billion cubic meters.

• Ukraine war:

  Gas deliveries from Russia to Europe have already been drastically reduced.

• Gas emergency plan:

  The countries of the EU have agreed to reduce their gas consumption by 15 percent.

• Energy crisis:

  Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) appeals to Germany to save gas.

BRUSSELS - The EU's gas contingency plan to prepare for a possible halt to Russian natural gas supplies has come into effect.

After its publication in the Official Journal of the EU on Monday (8 August), the plan came into effect on Tuesday.

The regulation calls for voluntary natural gas savings of 15 percent per country from early August to March next year, compared to the average for the past five years of this period.

Against the background of the war in Ukraine, Russia has already drastically reduced its supplies to the EU.

According to figures from the EU Commission, a total of 45 billion cubic meters of gas must be saved.

Germany would have to use about 10 billion cubic meters less gas to reach the 15 percent target.

Energy crisis: Germany will probably have to save significantly more gas

How the 27 EU countries lower their demand is up to them.

The regulation provides for numerous exceptions for states and “critical sectors of the economy” such as the food industry.

It is unclear whether the planned savings target of a total of 45 billion cubic meters of gas can be achieved.

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The exceptions mean that Germany will probably have to save significantly more gas than other countries this winter in order to prevent massive problems for the industry or even a recession in the event of a possible Russian gas supply stop.

That was what Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) said after the agreement on the gas emergency plan at the end of July in Brussels.

View of a pressure gauge on the site of an underground gas storage facility.

The European gas emergency plan to prepare for a possible stop to Russian natural gas supplies has come into force.

(Iconic image) © Christian Modla/dpa

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If not enough is saved and there are far-reaching supply bottlenecks, the next step can be to trigger an EU-wide alarm with binding savings targets.

However, the hurdle for this is high: the approval of at least 15 EU countries, which together make up at least 65 percent of the total population of the Union, would be necessary.

At the same time, several countries - such as Spain and Italy - have negotiated exceptions to the binding savings targets for this case and want to save less than 15 percent.

The emergency plan is initially valid for one year.

(hg/dpa/AFP)