The energy minister in Belgium on Monday issued a strong warning that if prices for natural gas are not brought down, the EU will be prone to experiencing ‘five to ten’ ‘terrible’ winters.
Africa Today News, New York reports that at the moment, there are urgent calls for a curb on gas prices across the EU and for separation from electricity prices.
Since Russia, a major gas supplier, invaded Ukraine in February and prompted sanctions, EU countries have struggled with significant increases in energy prices.
Germany claims that its gas reserves are being refilled quicker than anticipated.
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Reduced imports of Russian gas and oil are sought after by Western countries that support Ukraine. In response, Russia, which supplied 40% of the gas consumed in the EU last year, has curbed its supply.
Tinne Van der Straeten, the energy minister for Belgium, stated on Twitter that the artificial relationship between gas and electricity costs should be corrected and that the continent’s gas prices needed to be stabilized immediately.
‘The next five to ten winters will be terrible if we don’t do anything,’ she said. ‘We must act at source, at European level, and work to freeze gas prices.’
In Europe, electricity costs have also been rising rapidly and this week broke all previous records Since the primary source of electricity is gas.
The power one-year contract in Germany rose to €995 (£844; $991) on Friday, while the cost increased to €1,130 in France. According to reporters news agency, this is an increase of more than tenfold in both countries over the previous year.
‘We have to stop this madness that is happening right now on energy markets,’ Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer said.
He emphasized the demand for reduced electricity costs and urged the EU to disassociate the costs of energy and gas.
‘We cannot let (Russian President Vladimir) Putin determine the European electricity price every day,’ he added.
Germany, which will be the biggest consumer of Russian gas in 2020, has been hurrying to increase its gas supplies before winter even though Russia has curtailed deliveries.
By October, it hopes to filled 85% of its gas reserve. In order to do so, it has put energy-saving strategies in place.
According to Economy Minister Robert Habeck, these steps, together with purchasing gas from alternate suppliers, allowed Germany to accomplish its objective earlier than expected. He predicted that by the beginning of September, the 85% goal might be attained.