Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne explains her country’s gas infrastructure to the French network operator GRTgaz.
(Photo: Reuters)
Paris France has taken up the direct gas supplies to Germany promised during the energy crisis. This was announced by the French network operator GRTgaz on Thursday. Initially, 31 gigawatt hours of gas per day will flow via the Obergailbach-Medelsheim connection point on the Saarland border, and the capacity can be increased to up to 100 gigawatt hours per day.
In the past, Russian gas flowed via Germany to France via the Megal-Nord pipeline, then Moscow stopped its supplies against the background of the Ukraine war. In return for the gas support, Germany has agreed to help the French with the electricity supply and, in particular, to cushion peak loads in winter.
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, thanked France for the gas supplies. “We now have a new gas import route to Germany,” he said. “This is good news for the German gas supply and a testament to European solidarity.”
Technical problems due to odorous substances in the gas
In addition to the political agreement, Berlin and Paris also had to get a technical issue out of the way: In France, odorous substances, especially sulphur, are added to gas at the pipeline level as a safety measure. In Germany, this step only takes place at the local level, and odorized gas is actually not permitted for German long-distance pipelines.
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The Federal Network Agency has now decided on an exception. In the medium term, the construction of a so-called deodorization system at the transition point in Saarland is planned. “Until the completion of a deodorization system, isolated damage to connected customers whose systems are designed for unodorized gas cannot be completely ruled out,” said the Federal Network Agency.
The authority has already initiated proceedings with a view to possible claims for damages. In this way, the network operators could pass on any future costs in the form of damages via the gas fees to the customers.
>> Read here: Berlin, Madrid and Paris are fighting over the Pyrenees pipeline – Europe’s solidarity in the energy crisis has limits
GRTgaz boss Thierry Trouvé said work on the pipeline network for the reversals of gas flow from west to east was not yet complete. Therefore, the daily delivery volume is initially 31 gigawatt hours. Trouvé did not provide any information on when the possible 100 gigawatt hours per day could be reached.
France supplies gas, Germany reciprocates with electricity: In times of the energy crisis, the European countries are moving closer together.
(Photo: IMAGO/BildFunkMV)
However, the French gas aid can only improve the supply situation in Germany to a limited extent. The government in Paris said that a maximum of two percent of German gas consumption in winter could be supplied.
French gas storage tanks are full
French gas storage facilities are 99 percent full, and unlike Germany, the country already has several landing points for liquefied natural gas (LNG). According to GRTgaz, the target delivery volume of 100 gigawatt hours corresponds to around ten percent of the daily imports via the French LNG terminals.
France is also worried about its energy supply in the cold months. The government in Paris fears a power shortage even more than problems with gas – not least because a number of French nuclear power plants are currently idle.
In addition, unlike the Germans, the French heat their homes primarily with electricity. President Emmanuel Macron said in September after a conversation with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) that Germany “will put itself in a position to produce more electricity and show solidarity with us, especially at peak loads”.
More: “No blackout”: France is hoping for a mild winter in terms of electricity and gas supplies