Germany’s energy regulators called on residents to save energy and prepare for the rising winter on Saturday, as they could cut off the supply of natural gas for fear of Russia.
Federal Network Agency President Klaus Mueller urged home and apartment owners to check and coordinate gas boilers and radiators to maximize efficiency.
“Maintenance can reduce gas consumption by 10% to 15%,” he told German newspaper and magazine publisher Funke Mediengruppe.
Residents and real estate owners should use it 12 weeks before the cold begins to prepare, according to Mueller. He said the family needs to start talking now about “whether all rooms need to be set to normal temperatures in winter, or some rooms can be a little colder”. rice field.
After Russia cuts gas flows to Germany, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia earlier this month, European Union countries store fuel used to produce electricity, the electricity industry and heating homes in the winter. I fought to replenish the facility.
The container is adorned with a map showing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which was expected to supply Russian gas to European households in the Lubmin industrial zone in northeastern Germany on March 1, 2022.
John McDougall | Afp | Getty Images
Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, has blamed technical problems for reducing natural gas through Nord Stream 1, a pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
According to the company, the refurbished equipment in Canada is stuck in Canada due to western sanctions against the Russian war in Ukraine.
German leaders refused to explain and called the cut a political move in response to the European Union’s sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Robert Habeck, Germany’s Minister of Economy and Climate and responsible for energy, warned that the pipeline could be “blocked” from July 11, when regular maintenance work is scheduled to begin. .. In the past summer, he said, this work required the closure of Nord Stream 1 for about 10 days.
The question is whether future regular maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline will be “longer-lasting political maintenance,” said energy regulator Mueller.
“If the gas flow from Russia declines for a longer period of time, we need to discuss savings more seriously,” he said.
According to Mueller, if the gas supply is cut off, private homes will be specially protected, as are hospitals and elderly housing with care.
“We can promise to do everything we can to avoid running out of gas in our private homes,” he added. .. “
He said his agency “has never seen a scenario where no more gas is coming to Germany.”
Also on Saturday, German chemical and consumer goods company Henkel said it was considering encouraging employees to work from home in the winter as a response to potential supply shortages.
“That way, the temperature in the office can be significantly reduced and employees can warm the house to the normal extent,” Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel told the daily Rheinische Post.
A senator from the Hamburg state government also expressed concern, saying that in the event of a gas shortage, cities in northern Germany would need to limit the hot water in private households.
“In a serious gas shortage emergency, hot water was only available at certain times of the day,” Jens Kelstan told the weekly newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Earlier this month, Habeck’s economic minister began the second phase of Germany’s three-stage emergency plan on natural gas supply, with Europe’s largest economy facing a “crisis” and winter storage targets at stake. Warned.
