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News > Germany

Germany Lacks Reserves for Incoming Winter Without Russian Gas

  • German citizens fear having their heating turned off in winter. Jul. 17, 2022.

    German citizens fear having their heating turned off in winter. Jul. 17, 2022. | Photo: Al Mayadeen

Published 17 July 2022
Opinion

The quantities of gas in storage in Germany today are insufficient to get through the coming winter without supplies of the Russian fuel, warned Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) chairman Klaus Muller.

Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) chairman Klaus Muller has warned that the gas storage on German territory may not be sufficient to last this incoming winter without the normal supply from Russia.

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"The gas storage tanks are almost 65% full. That's better than in previous weeks, but still not enough to get through the winter without Russian gas," Muller said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag.

The head of the agency that regulates, among other markets the gas and electricity markets, recalled that maintenance work on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline should in principle be completed by July 21.

"Much will now depend on whether and in what quantities the gas then flows through the pipeline," he said.

Last week, according to Muller, there was no significant price increase despite the shutdown of Nord Stream 1.

"This could mean that the markets have already reflected the cessation of Russian gas supplies in prices and that we have reached the plateau (...) It is not yet clear whether these higher prices, attributable to the reduction in gas supplies from Russia, will have to be maintained in the short term," said Muller.

The first German municipalities have already started to set up heating rooms for the winter.

"We should not panic. In the plans of the Federal Network Agency, heating rooms for the most needy people do not play any role," Muller responded to the journalists' question about installation of heating rooms.

In addition, the official commented on the citizens' fear of having their heating turned off in winter.

"Private households have the least to worry about. They have been supplying gas for the longest time, much longer than industry, for example. Moreover, there is no scenario in which we are completely without gas. Even if Russia stops supplying gas, we will continue to receive it from Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium, or in the future from German LNG terminals," he said.

The Nord Stream 1 underwater pipeline underwent regulatory maintenance on July 11, according to forecasts until July 21, although there are fears that Russia will not turn on the tap of the pipeline that transported fuel to Germany.

Previously, Russia had reduced supplies through Nord Stream 1 by 60% due to Canada's unilateral sanctions, which prevented a Canadian subsidiary of Siemens from returning a turbine for its pumping plants to Russia's Gazprom Group.

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