International reporting
War in Ukraine: the consequences for the supply of Russian gas to Germany
Audio 02:31
Germany is now seeking to diversify its gas suppliers, and will have to turn to countries like the United States and Qatar.
© CC0 Pixabay/Steve Buissine
By: Julien Mechaussie
2 mins
More than 50% dependent on Russia for its gas imports, Berlin is forced to revise its energy strategy from top to bottom.
And faced with the inevitable price increases, the population is worried.
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From our correspondent in Berlin,
On his way to work, this German expresses the fear shared by many of his fellow citizens: the outbreak of war in Ukraine has caused the collapse of a decades-old energy policy in a few days.
“
When energy prices go up, it's never good for anyone.
It's not good for the job market, and it automatically leads to raises on all products.
We can even be afraid of huge inflation, which would be dramatic for our economy.
»
A historic importer of Russian gas, Germany has thus, through the voice of its Chancellor Olaf Scholz, suspended the approval of Nord Stream 2. Gas pipeline whose work has been completed since September 2021 and which connects northern Germany to Russia across the Baltic Sea.
A project stopped short: this week, the company Nord Stream 2 went into bankruptcy and more than 100 employees lost their jobs.
"
The wind had already turned at the start of winter
"
Renowned professor of environmental and resource economics, Andreas Löschel underlines Germany's naivety: “The tide
had already turned at the start of winter, long before the outbreak of war.
Gas exports from Russia have been reduced to a minimum for several months already.
Despite record prices!
So we can clearly see that this is part of a more global strategy on the part of Russia.
»
A situation that even pushed Robert Habeck, Ecologist Minister of the Economy, to consider an increase in coal imports.
The federation of small and medium-sized enterprises calls for a moratorium on the abandonment of coal by 2030, yet decided at the end of last year.
Germany is now looking to diversify its suppliers, and will have to turn to countries like the United States and Qatar.
With a major problem: these countries export liquefied natural gas, and Germany does not currently have any suitable terminal...
We urgently need new liquefied natural gas terminals.
The construction of a terminal, however, takes on average between 3 and 4 years.
Of course, we can do everything to make it go a little faster, but this new strategy cannot be a very short-term solution.
We will therefore have to live with the current infrastructures.
It will be difficult but once these new terminals are put into operation, the sky should clear up.
Abandoned two years ago for lack of political support, two terminal projects on the North Sea coast have been urgently relaunched at a cost approaching one billion euros.
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Germany
Russia
Energies