Germany moves to the second level of the gas emergency. However, it closes nuclear power
Germany has activated the second phase of its three-phase gas emergency plan, preparing for the eventuality of a total shutdown of gas supplies from Russia through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
In an official statement, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said, as reported by Reuters, that the Germans will have to start reducing their energy consumption and blamed the current situation on the Russian president.
The fear of an interruption of supplies in Germany is high, as Gazprom is preparing for the regular maintenance of Nord Stream 1. According to an article in the FT, Germany fears that the Russian state will "take advantage" of the maintenance works to suspend gas supplies to its largest European customer.
Supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipe are already much lower than normal due to a delay in the installation of a turbine which was brought by Siemens Energy for repairs to Canada, which recently extended sanctions against Russia as well. to services, effectively blocking the turbine. A huge European own goal.
The German government has rejected this explanation – provided by both Gazprom and Siemens Energy – stating that the reason for the reduction in the flow is political, but in the meantime it is Russia that decides who and how much to send gas.
"The supply situation is already tense enough without NS1 being shut down," an unnamed German government official told the FT.
Normally, when Gazprom carries out maintenance on Nord Stream 1, it diverts the gas supply to the Ukrainian and Yamal-Europe pipelines, said the head of the German business confederation BDI.
"But there is a fear that they won't do it this year," Carsten Rolle told the FT. "They have already cut flows through NS1 by 60% and have not compensated with an increase in flows through other pipelines."
Due to the reduction in gas supply, European prices are again steadily rising, with fears that, despite the strong start of the storage filling, the end may be much slower ahead of the next heating season.
For Germany, the situation is particularly delicate. According to the BDI, the German economy will undoubtedly slide into a recession if Russia completely turns off the gas taps.
For the time being, the government is calling for energy savings and reconsidering the use of coal-fired power plants, like other European countries, such as Austria and the Netherlands. However, the government remains firm on the fact that the last year it will produce coal-fired power will be 2030. In addition, the government has confirmed the closure of three still active nuclear power plants as of 12/31/2022. A risky choice that will further undermine the German energy system, but the green component of the coalition wants its price.
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The article Germany moves to the second level of the gas emergency. But still closes the nuclear comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-germania-passa-al-secondo-livello-dellemergenza-gas-pero-comunque-chiude-il-nucleare/ on Fri, 24 Jun 2022 06:00:06 +0000.