After ten days of maintenance, Russia has resumed gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. However, concerns about a gas stop remain. Federal Economics Minister Habeck and the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, are now speaking.
2.38 p.m .: A questioner wants to know whether the new measures can be checked and whether private heating then has to be done. “Freezing for the industry, that was never addressed,” emphasizes Habeck. Some of the measures are “very catchy, but private households can help there.” Even in Corona times, measures were not checked “and yet it worked, people stuck to it. But I don’t think the police will now check if the pools are warm.”
2:36 p.m .: Habeck says he cannot say when the generation of electricity from gas will end. However, no industrial processes are to be prevented, which is why some gas-fired power plants are to be continued. “Especially in Bavaria it is not possible to set this to zero,” said the minister.
2:34 p.m .: “Of the 22 storage operators in Germany, 17 are over 80, some even over 90 percent,” says Müller. But there are also five that are well below the new targets. With these, the goal is “ambitious. We have to try to reach the goal as far as possible.” The first two goals, 01.09 and 01.10 are mostly achievable, the 01.11 “sometimes physically difficult”.
2:32 p.m .: Regarding Uniper, he has to “remain taciturn,” says Habeck. The new Zeiel changes little in this case. “Russia has become an insecure energy supplier,” says Habeck. “We always have to expect that something will be found to interrupt or reduce the gas flow. Caution is the mother of the china box in this case.”
2:29 p.m .: Habeck is asked whether he can explain what the new target storage levels he named would do. “They oblige those responsible to take action. If they can’t do that, THE, Trading Hub Europe, can intervene when they see that it’s no longer possible.”
2:24 p.m .: “It was never meant that we would introduce a kind of heat police,” says Habeck, referring to his now well-known statement from the press conference in Austria. “There are general rules that affect the chimney sweep, for example, when he checks the gas boiler in the future.” These have to be adapted.
2:22 p.m .: The group is now open for questions, and Klaus Müller is also available for questions. A first question is addressed to both present regarding the probability of a complete gas stop. The situation is “extremely volatile,” says Müller. For this purpose, the Federal Network Agency “calculated various scenarios in order to avoid a gas shortage.” His conclusion: “Germany must save well in order to get through the next two winters.”
2:19 p.m .: The 15 percent reduction in the EU member states has not yet been decided, but he is behind the EU Commission, said Habeck. “Even if you don’t buy Russian gas, you buy LNG gas,” emphasizes the minister. That is why these countries should also save in solidarity, also for their own good.
2:17 p.m .: He wants to push a number of other points, according to Habeck. “We have to talk about how we can save energy by making more use of home office.” Habeck says he doesn’t want to make that mandatory, “because then you can think of five exceptions why it doesn’t work for everyone”. However, one should “be allowed to think about it”.
2:15 p.m .: “Public spaces that you only walk through should not be heated permanently.” Then he announces that he will “suspend the minimum temperature heating regulation. The heating should no longer run all the time.”
2:14 p.m .: “We will, together with the Ministry of Transport, pass an ordinance that gives priority to coal and oil on the rails,” he announces.
2:12 p.m .: “We will decide and announce another energy security package today,” announces Habeck. In addition, the storage levels should be increased. “On September 1st it must be 70 percent, on October 1st 85 percent and on November 1st 95 percent,” said the minister. “We already have good memory levels and should keep them and not sell them on the market, even if the prices are high.”
2:11 p.m .: “We will continue to need this solidarity, which has enabled us to get through the crisis so well. We need staying power. This winter and the next will pose major challenges for Europe,” said the minister.
2:09 p.m .: Robert Habeck speaks. “We now know that enough turbines are available and we knew it back then – those were pretended reasons,” he says of Russia’s excuse about a possible gas freeze. Russia tried to blackmail Europe – the EU shouldn’t let that happen to it.