Gas: EU emergency plan comes into force

There could soon be such a dispute in even more EU countries if they implement the recommendations from the gas emergency plan, which they agreed on at the end of July and which came into force this Tuesday. Because in some countries more needs to be done to meet the agreed targets.

The plan calls for each country to voluntarily reduce its gas consumption by 15 percent between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 – compared to the average consumption over the past five years in the corresponding period. If not enough is saved and there are far-reaching supply bottlenecks, an EU-wide alarm with binding savings targets can be triggered.

The background to the plan is the fear that only little gas will continue to be supplied from Russia or that the flow of gas will dry up completely because Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to punish the EU for its sanctions and arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Germany relies on the solidarity of its neighbors, who are significantly less dependent on Russian gas. Germany is currently buying in liquefied natural gas via foreign LNG terminals. Only if this continues to function in an emergency can Germany maintain its energy supply.

possibilities not exhausted

Companies in Germany are supporting the savings efforts because they want to avoid a further increase in prices and forced shutdowns. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) commented on the EU plan as follows: “Our entire society – companies, state institutions and private households – must save energy wherever possible.”

The BDI does not see the possibilities as yet exhausted. Gas-fired power plants can be converted so that they can be fired with oil instead of gas. This requires special permits, however, because the emission of pollutants increases with oil.

BDI President Siegfried Russwurm recently told the German Press Agency that this was taking too long: “Crisis management requires authorities to quickly approve fuel conversions and other gas-saving projects.” “fuel switch” will be consistently pursued.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck sees Germany on the right track overall, although the EU savings target of 15 percent has obviously not yet been reached and the ministry actually wants to go well beyond that and save 20 percent. Since the beginning of the year, gas consumption in Germany has been below the values ​​of the same months of the previous year, the ministry reports.

The federal government has already restarted shut down coal-fired power plants in order to be able to save gas in power generation. Lignite-fired power plants are to follow.

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An auction mechanism in which companies can be paid for savings should also have a major effect. Such a mechanism is considered to be more efficient than coercive measures because it allows companies to decide for themselves how much gas they can do without.

Where people are already saving in Germany

Cooling down buildings significantly is not yet forbidden in Germany, nor is heating limited. The only plan is that corridors and foyers of public buildings should no longer be heated.

In addition, gas heaters should be checked to see whether the flow temperature is set correctly and hydraulic balancing should be used to ensure that the heating system is set efficiently.

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In addition, the Ministry of Economic Affairs refers above all to the cities and municipalities: “Many municipalities have already started to reduce the standard temperatures in swimming pools, reduce facade lighting, modernize heating systems, street lighting where it does not endanger safety to reduce. And they want to limit the room temperatures in public buildings during the heating period,” said a spokeswoman.

Whether that is enough is unclear. The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, told the “Welt am Sonntag” that a gas shortage can only be prevented if consumers save at least 20 percent on gas, “much more than before”.

Problems with hydro and nuclear power too

In addition to Spain, Italy and Greece have also implemented such measures nationwide. In Italy it is only allowed to cool down to 25 degrees, in Greece to 26 degrees. The background in these countries is not only the scarcity of gas, but there are also problems with other energy sources. Hydropower in particular is only used cautiously, because otherwise the levels in the reservoirs could fall too low due to the drought.

Likewise, nuclear power plants are being shut down because there is no cooling water in the rivers. This is particularly a problem in France, where the government has found another measure to save electricity: it wants to make it compulsory for supermarkets to keep their doors closed as much as possible when the air conditioning is on, and enforce this with fines.

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Many other EU countries such as Belgium and the Czech Republic have so far only relied on campaigns calling on citizens and companies to save gas. The Netherlands intends to present specifications for industry in the near future. Still others don’t even see a reason for it. Finland and Lithuania have already made themselves largely independent of Russian gas. Poland and Hungary do not see themselves bound by the savings targets, and the government in Budapest even ruled out implementing the savings target.

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