The Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, is convinced that Germany needs to strengthen the security of energy supply. Measures that will lead to this include greater diversification of energy sources and reduced dependence on Russia.
Germany will rely more heavily on liquefied natural gas supplies from outside Russia. At the same time, it intends to slow the transition away from coal. A reevaluation of the nuclear power plants shutdown is also in play. These are the main messages of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck in response to the last week developments in the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which has escalated into a military conflict.
“Security of energy supply must be ensured,” Habeck said. He said it would also be appropriate to revisit the way in which Germany would seek to achieve carbon neutrality. Russia is currently the largest supplier of natural gas to Germany with a share of nearly 40 percent.
Together, natural gas and coal account for about 43 percent of Germany’s total electricity production. As a first step in strengthening supply diversification, Germany has decided to order around $1.5 billion worth of liquefied natural gas, despite the fact that Russia has fulfilled all the ordered supplies so far.
