BERLIN, Mar 18 The era of cheap Russian gas is over, Germany faces big risks in the field of energy security, said Klaus Müller, head of the German Federal Grid Agency, in an interview with the Rheinische Post.
«Wholesale gas prices, which rose to more than 300 euros per megawatt at the end of the summer, have fallen by about 50 euros. This is much more than in 2021, but is the new normal. We must get used to higher prices, an era of cheap energy has finally passed from Russia,» he said, noting the country's intermediate successes on the way to saving blue fuel.
In addition, Muller pointed out the risks associated with the weather. If cold weather comes at the end of the year, consumers may refuse to save.
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“We cannot expect that next winter will be as mild again,” the head of the agency explained.
He also urged not to rule out scenarios in which LNG terminals would not work according to plan. In addition, Germany will have to help other countries in case of energy security problems to help neighboring countries.
«Another unknown is China: if its economy recovers again after the coronavirus crisis, gas demand will increase significantly. We do not know what will happen to the remaining stocks of Russian gas supplies,» Muller said.
According to him, Russian gas is no longer supplied to Germany through pipelines, but some European countries still import it.
«Russia still supplies countries such as Austria and Hungary. Thus, part of the demand for gas in Europe is still covered by Russia. This is not prohibited, the EU has not imposed sanctions on the supply of Russian gas,» he specified .
As a result, the head of the agency called to start filling storage facilities this spring and summer.
German authorities have previously stated that the country is currently planning to build a total of five state-owned floating LNG terminals. As Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted, they will allow Germany to become independent of gas supplies from Russia.
According to Bloomberg, citing Vice President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic, the EU plans to launch a platform for joint gas purchases in April to reduce energy prices. More than 50 enterprises from all over the world are interested in cooperation with the European Union through this mechanism. The main advantage for small and medium-sized companies, according to Šefčović, is the opening up of a «big market»: otherwise they would not be able to buy part of the cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) or connect with a large energy company.
February 150, 09 class=0 «share» data-nosnippet=»true» data-id=»1851998642″ data-url=»https://ria.ru/20230215/gaz-1851998642.html» data-title=»Pipeline Gas Price Ceiling»> InfographicsPipeline Gas Price Ceiling