The expansion of the West Austria gas service (WAG) is currently failing due to financing: the network operator Gas Connect Austria (GCA) does not want to raise the costs of 200 million euros alone, the energy and finance ministries are arguing about who should inject additional money should, the “Kurier” reported today.
Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) sees Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler’s (Greens) department as being in charge: “We urgently need to get going.”
The GCA has already received approval from the energy regulator E-Control for the planned 40 kilometer long additional gas pipeline in the Mühlviertel, with which gas is to be delivered to Austria via Germany. However, the GCA does not want to bear the economic risk alone because a lot of gas is still imported from Russia and the additional gas pipeline might not be used to capacity at all.
Climate Ministry: Funding not provided
“We urgently need to get going with the implementation of the WAG loop,” said Brunner to the APA. “And we expect that for Austria as a location and for Austria’s security of supply, the Ministry of Energy will present a concrete proposal on how we can implement this as quickly as possible.” Money is earmarked for this in the Energy Ministry’s budget, amounting to 70 million euros. The Ministry of Energy has received authorization for this.
In Gewessler’s department we see it differently: “The current budget of the Climate Protection Ministry does not provide for corresponding funding – funding from this is therefore not possible,” it said to the “Kurier”.
Of course, we are looking forward to “discussions with the Ministry of Finance regarding financial support to accelerate construction” – should the Ministry of Finance make more money available.
2023-12-21 06:43:42
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