On average, a German spends more than 10 minutes under hot water in the shower.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
This is far too much, said their Federal Minister of the Economy, Robert Habeck.
Five minutes is plenty.
His political opponent, Wolfgang Kubicki, went even further: three minutes top time… in cold water!
These are the kinds of questions Germans are asking themselves these days. Everything related to energy consumption obsesses them. Even though the mercury hovers around 30 degrees, they are already shivering thinking about what awaits them this winter.
And in this context, the exception to the sanctions against Russia to which Canada had to agree to allow the Russian company Gazprom to recover the turbines necessary for the supply of natural gas is not their greatest concern.
During the night of Sunday to Monday, the fuel stopped flowing in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which connects Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Citizens do not experience a power cut, however – the accumulated reserves can meet demand at this time of year when it is weakest.
This interruption was planned. It takes place every year, at the same time, to allow maintenance work on the facilities of Gazprom, which supplies 30% of Germany’s natural gas needs. Usually, this “event”, recalled the German newspaper on Monday Die Zeitis “about as exciting” as your annual vehicle tune-up.
This year it’s different. The Germans want to know everything about the procedure. Usually, this operation takes about 11 to 14 days.
But this time… we fear that the faucet will not reopen at the end of the maintenance period.
And if it does not reopen, the level of the country’s reservoirs may not reach the 90% required in November to ensure supply during the winter. At the moment, they are 63% full. If Germany is not short of petrol, oil or electricity, time is running out to ensure that there will be enough gas.
In recent days, Minister Habeck has had no illusions: the lack of gas threatens the social cohesion of his country.
The alert level has already moved to level 2 of 3. One more tick and the government will have to intervene to distribute the gas in order of priority. Prices are rising at a pace that is unsustainable for many German families. The government recommends that companies equip themselves with emergency generators to compensate for any interruption. A major industry group has compared the end of the gas supply to a “heart attack for the economy”.
Would Russia refrain from selling its gas to Germany? Yes it’s possible. Gas sales in Europe represent an important source of income for Russia, but less than oil. Moreover, as the president of Gazprom himself said, any decrease in the number of cubic meters delivered to Europe at the moment is compensated by very favorable selling prices.
Russia has the fair game. Germany needs Russian gas much more than Russia needs the rubles paid by its German customer.
Its strategy is precisely to crack the Western alliance, one hand on the handle of the faucet.
This is exactly the case with the famous Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline turbines that were stuck in Montreal. The German multinational Siemens Energy had them repaired at its Canadian premises. But the return to Russia of this equipment was blocked due to economic sanctions against Moscow.
In recent weeks, Gazprom has stated that the pipeline cannot be fully operational without these turbines. And to support its claims, the company reduced the flow of the gas pipeline by 60%.
The government of Olaf Scholz called this explanation “pretexting”, but pleaded for the repatriation of the turbines. Germany felt that it was best not to give Russia another excuse to further jeopardize the country’s energy security.
Blackmail ? Most likely. But Germany, which intends to wean itself off Russian gas, is not yet ready to do without it completely. Under the circumstances, and despite calls for solidarity with Ukraine, Canada had little choice but to side with its ally.