Dhe term “alternative energies” is currently taking on a new meaning in Austria. At least for bulk consumers in industry. Because according to the government decision, they have to switch to alternative energies. What is meant is less wind, water and sun, but primarily oil. A mothballed coal-fired power plant is already being reactivated. Climate protection must take a back seat in the gas crisis, security of supply has priority. Austria is particularly affected by the noticeable shortage of gas supplies from Russia because it is almost completely dependent on the supplies.
The decision, which Parliament has yet to implement, is part of a new plan the government is introducing to prepare the country against a possible gas supply crisis. It is important to “counteract in every way” the Russian efforts to spread disinformation and fear-mongering, said Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP).
After all, 83 percent of the population now expect bottlenecks in the energy supply as a result of the Ukraine war, as a Gallup poll shows. That is why the government wants to provide better information about the energy supply situation. But not only that.
Memory systematically not filled
After the meeting of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday morning, the Chancellor named one specific consequence of the crisis: the Haidach storage facility, which is operated but not used by Gazprom, will now also be made available to other companies. A law that came into force on July 1 (motto: “Use it or lose it”) makes it possible to take action against “systematic non-filling”.
Before the end of this year, the storage facility, which is only physically connected to Germany, is also to be connected to the Austrian gas grid and made usable for domestic suppliers. Negotiations with Berlin on this are well advanced. “The Republic of Austria will also use the storage facility in the future,” said Nehammer. This points to another innovation: for the first time, the state itself is entering the market as a buyer of gas.
Austria’s Federal Chancellor praises the European gas purchasing initiative, wants to participate in the expansion of the Croatian terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hopes for LNG deliveries from Israel from next year. First of all, however, it is about short-term security: “The goal is to make provisions for the winter,” says Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP). That is why he is providing 100 million euros to offset the costs of buying gas from other sources. A third of the new strategic gas reserve of 20 terawatt hours will not consist of Russian molecules.
With all this, the country wants to prepare for a further shortage of gas supplies. There is great concern about a further drop in pressure in the lines from Russia, but the storage facilities are currently about half full, says Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens). The amount of gas alone will last until the end of the year.
Austria is in a better position than most other European countries, says the minister. That is why the government is now refraining from declaring the second stage of the three-stage alarm plan. For the time being, the current “early warning level” remains, but with the announced maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from July 11, the next critical event is imminent. Concern is growing that the line will then dry up.
Maintain heaters, set up thermal baths, seal windows
In this respect, the draft ordinance, according to which the industry must convert its systems in order to be able to “operate them both with gas and with other energy sources”, is a precautionary measure. The government bears the cost of converting the burners to preferential operation with oil.
In principle, savings in gas are necessary and sensible, says the President of the Federation of Industry, Georg Knill. However, there will be “many companies where it is not possible”. They should be supported financially. Another regulation for the industry has already come into force: If you build up a gas reserve yourself, you don’t have to worry about having to share this gas with others in an emergency.
Minister of Energy Gewessler not only looks at the few large industrial consumers, but also at the many small private gas consumers. Her advice: maintain the heaters, adjust the heat, seal the windows and “free the radiators from the furniture”. This not only saves domestic money, but also Russian gas.
As if the shortage of gas wasn’t big enough already, there are new concerns about oil. “Austria is running out of diesel” is the headline in the newspaper “Die Presse” and speculates on late summer. Because after an accident during maintenance work in the largest domestic refinery, its capacity has fallen to a fifth, and the semi-public energy company OMV is now trying to get diesel and petrol from other refineries.
And although Austria, unlike Germany, does not obtain any oil from Russian production, Moscow turns the tap here too. The surprising closure of the oil terminal at the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea for 30 days, ordered by the court for “reasons of environmental protection”, also affects Austria. The port is a transshipment point for oil from Kazakhstan, from which a good third of oil imports came in 2020. Luckily, at best, the large refineries in Schwechat are currently standing still. For the time being Gewessler tries to calm down: There is enough oil on the world market to compensate for any supply bottlenecks.
