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Berlin-Germany’s Minister of Economy said on Sunday that the country would limit the use of natural gas for electricity production amid concerns about shortages that could be caused by reduced supply from Russia.
Economic Minister Robert Habeck said Germany would try to make up for this move by increasing the burning of coal.
“It’s a pain, but in this situation it’s just necessary to reduce gas usage,” said Habeck, a member of the environmentalist Green Party.
Russian gas company Gazprom announced last week that it has significantly reduced supply over the Nord Stream 1 pipeline for technical reasons, but Habeck said it seems to have political motives.
Germany, which has long relied heavily on energy imports from Russia, has begun to significantly reduce imports due to the Ukrainian War.
Nevertheless, the government claims that Russian gas will be needed for some time before alternative energy sources such as LNG brought in by ship are available. Over the past few months, the German government has taken steps to fill gas storage facilities to 90% capacity by November in order to have sufficient gas available for heating during the winter. I did.
Habeck said the current 56.7% capacity storage facility could fill the shortfall from Russia with purchases from elsewhere, but still described the situation as “serious” and may require further action. Said.
The German government has recently called on its citizens to reduce their energy use in the light of tight supply conditions.
“It’s clear that Putin’s strategy (Russian President Vladimir) is to push prices up and make us uneasy by splitting us,” Habeck said. “We won’t make it happen.”
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