After Bulgaria and Poland, Germany, the world’s largest importer of Russian gas, fears to be the next country targeted by a tap closure. Its powerful industry depends on it. Thanks to the diversification of supplies, the country has already reduced its dependence on Gazprom, from 55% to 35%, but next winter will be harsh. And a question is already emerging: are the Germans ready to turn down the heat to stop financing the war in Ukraine?
>> War in Ukraine: which EU countries are most dependent on Russian hydrocarbons?
Politicians are already preparing minds for energy savings, like this CDU deputy in front of the Regional Assembly in Stuttgart: “Fifteen degrees at home with a sweater, we support. No one is going to die while people are dying in Ukraine”. In the event of a shortage, the chairman of the supervisory board of the German energy company Eon wants gas reserves, at only 34% of capacity today, to go first to industry.
Three-quarters of Germans say they are ready, according to a Spiegel poll, to lower the heating. “It’s not fair but you have to make trade-offs: either have more unemployment and everyone is warm at home, or there is less unemployment. You can’t have everything”, pleads a Berliner. Another resident is even more pessimistic: “We are dependent on the industry. These are our jobs. If they suffer, we also suffer. If we are cold, we also suffer. So I think that we, as private people, have anyway only things to lose”.
Before having to settle this debate, Germany is already suffering the consequences of tensions with Russia on its gas imports. On Thursday, Moscow refused a transfer from German authorities for a delivery because payment was not made in rubles.
In Spain, it is the surge in electricity prices that worries many companies. Metro de Madrid is the company in the region that consumes the most electricity. Its bills have jumped by 80%: 88 million euros in 2021 against 49 million in 2020. A very delicate situation for a company which provides an essential service. The authorities of the Castile and León region therefore demanded urgent measures from the central government, as the regional spokesman, Enrique Osorio, recalled in an ironic tone on Thursday: “With the exception of Mr. Sánchez, I think everyone is aware that electricity has increased in a very significant way. Let’s take the example of the metro, the cost in normal times was 120,000 euros per day But it went up to 800,000 euros!”
If we continue at this rate, the Madrid Metro electricity bill could rise to 268 million euros this year and would therefore be multiplied by five in two years. Faced with these exorbitant prices and in order to reduce the daily costs that the company has to face, the regional government has therefore decided to reduce the number of metros in circulation.
In concrete terms, the planned reduction is 10% on average and 4% at peak times. According to the company, these measures will result in almost equivalent waiting times and will not lead to overloads on the trains. Arguments disputed by the opposition parties.