Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, decided to burn coal to avoid the nightmare of winter supply disruptions as Russian gas supplies fell.
Germany is working on a new law to reopen more than 10 gigawatts of idle coal-fired power plants for two years, Economy Minister Gerhard Habeck said on Sunday.
It is worth mentioning that In the context of carbon neutrality, Germany plans to phase out coal use by 2030. But now, faced with the impending disruption of gas supplies, Germany seems to have lost its green hand.
Harbeck said the move was a "necessary move," but in this case, reducing gas use was critical. He called on operators of coal-fired power plants to "prepare now so that they can be operational as soon as possible".
Last week, Russia was reported to have cut supplies the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline to Germany by 60 per cent.
Italy Slovakia reported Monday that gas supplies were at half their normal levels, France has received Russian gas via Germany since Friday, Austria has been told to cut supplies.
Across the Atlantic, a series of explosions a fire at freeport Gas, a big US LNG exporter, at its Quintana Island plant in Texas on Wednesday caused gas production in the region to plummet. Europe's hopes for US gas supplies may be dashed.
Squeezed between Russia the US, Dutch gas futures, the continental European benchmark, jumped more than 40 per cent last week.
In order to safeguard gas storage, Germany plans to install four floating LNG terminals prioritise increasing storage tanks for winter use. Mr. Harbeck expects inventory levels to reach 90% in December, up about 56% now.
"We need to do everything we can to store as much gas as possible," Habeck said, calling it a "z-high priority" because otherwise "there will be a real [supply] crunch in the winter."
In addition, Germany plans to auction natural gas to companies to curb consumer demand.
Germany aims to reduce normal consumption by about a fifth without rationing, while increasing pipeline supplies Norway imports of liquefied natural gas.
However, if Europe has a cold winter this year, gas supplies will be even tighter. Germany's gas regulator expects average temperatures to be 6 degrees Celsius lower November to April.
If Russian supplies were cut off completely, even at 90% of Germany's reserves, it would cover only two to three months of normal winter gas consumption, analysts say.
Germany's economy minister has unveiled a "gas saving" package
Russia has repeatedly cut gas supplies to Germany, the German economy minister has warned of a severe gas shortage crisis this winter unless immediate action is taken. The central measures being rolled out by the economy ministry include billions of euros in state funding to speed up gas reserves, replace gas with coal-fired power generation encourage industry to reduce gas consumption.
"We need to reduce gas consumption focus on increasing the capacity of existing storage facilities, otherwise the situation will become very severe this winter," Harbeck said.
In response to Russia's cut in gas supplies to Germany, Federal Economy Minister Robert Habeck plans to reduce gas consumption by implementing broad measures aimed at averting a severe gas shortage crisis at the start of the winter heating season this year. The core measures include billions of euros of state funding to accelerate gas reserves, the use of coal-fired power to replace gas for electricity generation incentives for industry to reduce gas use.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has twice announced reductions in gas supplies to Germany via Nord Stream 1. Only 67 million cubic meters per day will be pumped through pipelines Thursday night. The Russian state-owned company again cited delays in repair work to justify the move. The new reduction to 67 million cubic meters per day represents a reduction of about 60 percent over two days.
German Economy Minister Joachim Habeck says gas storage facilities in Germany can continue to expand their reserves despite current high market prices. According to dPA, the German government will provide a loan of 15 billion euros through the National KFW bank to buy secure gas reserves.
According to a report released Sunday by the German Energy Agency, the average capacity of Germany's gas storage facilities is now 57 percent. The government asked for reserves to be raised to 80% by Oct. 1 90% by Nov. 1 to deal with potential supply bottlenecks.
Harbeck also plans to adopt a gas auction model this summer to encourage industry to conserve gas consumption. In simple terms, industries that use less natural gas will receive financial compensation, the gas they save will be stored for this winter.
Russian energy giant Gazprom has twice announced reductions in gas supplies to Germany via Nord Stream 1.
Natural gas is only an important energy source for German residents to heat their homes in winter, but also an important energy source for industrial production electricity. According to data released by the German Economy Ministry, natural gas will account for 15 percent of electricity generation in 2021.
Germany also needs to invest in more coal-fired power stations. "This is of course a sad result, but it is necessary to reduce gas consumption," said Habeck, the economy minister.
He also called for backup coal plants to be "ready now ready for production as soon as possible".
To reduce its dependence on Russian gas supplies, Germany is also building liquefied natural gas terminals accelerating expansion of wind solar power. But these projects will take years.
In the short term, some politicians economists have suggested energy discounts subsidies for ordinary residents to accelerate reductions in gas consumption. Economy Minister Habeck also made it clear that legal measures to save energy due to reduced gas supplies could be ruled out.
Klaus Muller, head of Germany's energy agency, has even proposed a law to limit heating temperatures in private apartments. But the proposal has been widely criticised. German Chancellor Tomas Scholz also said, "I do like to discuss individual measures until the overall draft is published."
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Source: Wall Street
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