The flow of natural gas from Russia to Germany via an important submarine pipeline stopped on Monday. Link went offline for a scheduled maintenance period of 10 days, testing Europe’s determination to cut off its abundant Russian fuel supply.
Despite sanctions aimed at punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Germany still draws 30% of its natural gas from Russia, many of which power the economically important industrial sector. rice field. Other EU countries, including Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic, also receive gas via the NordStream1 pipeline.
Russia’s energy giant Gazprom, the majority owner of the pipeline, cut gas flows by 60% last month, pushing energy prices to record levels. This move has forced Germany to raise its gas emergency alert level to the second of three stages. In the third and final stages, the government can start gas distribution. It will also pass a law to bail out utilities and revive coal-fired power plants. online.
Berlin officials say Gazprom could use regular outages to shut down supplies altogether, disrupting Germany’s plans to fill the country’s gas reserves by November and strengthening winter supplies I am concerned about having sex. Facilities across the country are just over 63%, but if Russia shuts down all supplies beyond the 10-day maintenance period, that goal may not be achieved.
Germany’s economic minister, Robert Habeck, told German public radio Deutschlandfunk on Monday that “it’s an unprecedented situation.” “To be honest, we always have to do our best to prepare for the worst.”
Over the weekend, Habeck reached an agreement with Canada on the turbines needed for the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was sent to Montreal for repairs and returned to Germany. The return of turbines was postponed by sanctions against Russia, and Gazprom cited the missing equipment as the reason it was forced to reduce its supply through the pipeline.
Even when Germans are flocking to the beaches and mountains for summer vacation, the Ministry of Economy will start building fire pots for them, install water-saving shower heads, and prepare to turn down heating at least once in the coming winter. I’m asking you to save energy.
Municipalities across the country are also looking at ways to save energy when temperatures start to drop. Berlin officials are considering whether to reduce the lighting of some tourist attractions in the capital, and parliament has decided to lower the temperature of the office by 2 degrees when the heating period begins. Many heated public pools also cool down.
How dire the situation will be only revealed at the end of the month when NordStream1 is scheduled to return online after July 21st.
“No one can tell at this point what will happen at the end of maintenance,” Klaus Müller, head of the German energy network authority, told Reuters. “I don’t know earlier than one day before the scheduled end.”
