Dhe Federation of German Industries (BDI) demands that the supply of natural gas be re-regulated in the event of a shortage. “The current prioritization rules in a gas shortage were created for a short-term interruption of individual lines,” said BDI President Siegfried Russwurm on Monday in Berlin. “Politicians in Berlin and Brussels must create new regulations for the tough new energy reality. This has to hold all parts of society accountable according to their capabilities,” he said. Russwurm expects Germany to face “a long-term gas shortage”. Now “every kilowatt hour of gas and electricity saved counts,” he said. “In addition to companies, municipalities and countries, private consumers must become part of the massive energy saving campaign.”
Prioritization is the order in which private households and companies receive natural gas in the event of an acute shortage. According to the applicable EU regulation and the German emergency plan for gas, certain consumer groups should be supplied with gas until the very end if possible.
These protected consumers include private households, social facilities such as hospitals and gas-fired power plants that also supply households with heat. According to Russwurm, Germany “should not stare like a rabbit at the snake in preparation for all conceivable scenarios after the end of the revision of Nord Stream 1”.
The industry expects “a clear starting signal for auctions in the summer” for companies that can make unused gas volumes available. Also, authorities should allow companies to switch from gas to other fuels with quick and easy permits.
In politics, meanwhile, fronts are softening in the energy crisis. Union faction deputy Jens Spahn (CDU) has offered the federal government a temporary extension of the operating times of nuclear power plants to jointly introduce a speed limit on motorways.
When the Greens said they were in the process of extending the runtimes of the three remaining nuclear power plants by half a year, “then I think we should also be able to talk about the speed limit,” said Spahn on Monday in the ARD morning magazine. “That would then be a compromise, a national one.”
The Union has so far rejected a speed limit. Spahn also said that it makes a “relatively small difference in energy consumption”. But as a politician he could not say that there should be no taboos and ideologies and that all options should be on the table. Therefore, no “ban on thinking” should be set up for the speed limit. Everyone would have to jump over their shadow for a good package.
Maintenance work disrupts Russian supplies
Since Monday, July 11, gas has stopped flowing through Nord Stream 1, the main pipeline for natural gas from Russia. Gas transport was interrupted for annual maintenance work on the Baltic Sea pipeline. The work is scheduled to last until July 21. In Germany, however, there is concern that the pipeline will not be put back into operation.
