German Economy Minister Robert Habeck described the situation with gas supplies as the “biggest energy crisis” that Germany has ever gone through, BTA reported. As reasons for it, he highlighted his country’s overdependence on Russian energy, which had been building up for decades.
“We guarantee that within a few years we will overcome this dependence,” announced the German minister.
He also commented on hydrogen energy research and development, saying “this is the future”, but warned that Germany will have to weather the coming winter and the one after that before the new technologies can offset Russian supplies. .
Habek warned that local households were facing increases in their winter heating bills amounting to hundreds of euros as supplies from Russia dwindled. Households in need will be assisted, he added, declining to give details of exactly how the assistance would be implemented.
Meanwhile, it emerged that Germany is poised to introduce a planned levy on all gas users from October 1 as it seeks to help suppliers struggling with rising import prices. This was reported by Reuters, citing a statement by Habek. This move will provide relief to importers of the raw material.
The fee law, introduced earlier this month, aims to share the additional costs of diversifying Russian gas supplies among all consumers and prevent bankruptcies among traders.
The so-called “net price adjustment mechanism” will affect both households and industrial users using long-term contracts and will be valid until the end of September 2024, according to economy ministry sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The new tax on gas consumption for all customers in Germany will cost households several hundred euros, Habeck commented on the matter, indicating that he expects it to be between 1.5 and 5 cents per kilowatt hour. The money raised through the levy will be available to all gas companies that need to replace Russian gas, and the measure aims to stabilize the blue fuel market.
