China News Agency, Berlin, June 19 (Xinhua) According to comprehensive German media reports, in view of the reduction in Russian gas supplies, German Deputy Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Climate Protection Habeck wants to take additional measures to save natural gas.
As a result, there will be a reduction in the use of natural gas for power generation and industry, a further boost to natural gas storage, and more coal-fired power plants to come online, DPA has learned from government sources.
Harbeck pointed out that the situation is dire, and "the consumption of natural gas must be further reduced and more natural gas stored, otherwise the gas consumption in winter will be very tight."
In addition, Harbeck also plans to implement a "natural gas auction" model this summer to incentivize industrial gas users to save gas.
The core idea of this model is that industrial users who do not rely on natural gas can get a corresponding reward from the market if they reduce their use of natural gas - so that the natural gas saved can be turned into reserves.
"A little less will help." Harbeck said that saving gas, industry is the key factor.
Natural gas is important not only for heating homes, but also in industry as a raw material for products and energy production.
Harbeck has also announced that the use of natural gas to generate electricity will be reduced and that coal-fired power plants will be "used more" as an alternative.
The corresponding law will be passed by the Bundesrat and take effect in July.
According to a report released by the Federal Network Agency, the German energy regulator, on the 18th, the current filling rate of natural gas storage facilities in Germany is about 56.7%.
The federal government is targeting an 80 percent fill rate for natural gas storage facilities by Oct. 1 and 90 percent by Nov. 1 to prepare for possible supply bottlenecks.
According to reports, Gazprom has significantly reduced the flow of natural gas through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic pipeline in recent days.
As early as March, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the federal government has spent 1.5 billion euros to purchase natural gas storage.
In addition, the German government has also taken various other measures, such as providing assistance to energy companies and specific plans to build LNG terminals in Germany, to deal with possible bottlenecks in natural gas supply.
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