In order to help avert an energy catastrophe this winter, the head of Germany’s utility network wants to see his country sign a gas “solidarity pact” with Britain.
Germany, which once laughed at allies for pointing out it was becoming dangerously reliant on Russian gas, is now scrabbling to make new alliances to protect itself from the foreseeable consequences of its actions.
Klaus Müller, who serves as the head of the Federal Network Agency which is responsible for managing gas supply in Germany, is now pushing for his country to sign a “solidarity pact” with the UK, something he believes would help avert energy disaster this winter.
While Müller has put on a brave face in regard to the energy problems currently facing Germany, the sudden disappearance of Russian gas from the European energy market has left his green agenda-loving nation badly exposed, with it being feared that it could run out of gas by the end of this February.
As part of steps to prevent this, Germany has been signing a number of bilateral “security of supply” agreements with other EU countries, with the agreements entailing each party stepping in to help should the other encounter serious energy issues.
While the UK has left the European Union, Müller has told The Guardian that there is no reason Germany should not pursue such an agreement with Rishi Sunak’s Britain.
“With its long coastline, the UK has a geographic advantage when it comes to infrastructure for importing liquid natural gas,” he remarked, arguing that the UK would in turn also be helped by having access to a larger gas network with increased storage compared to Britain.
However, while the likes of Austria and Denmark have signed such agreements with Germany, other nations in the EU have decided that they would not like to be part of such an energy pact with the struggling nation, with The Guardian noting Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and Luxembourg as having so far refused the deal.
Nevertheless, Müller has appealed to the UK’s sense of “European solidarity” in an attempt to push such an agreement forward.
“[L]et’s act with as much European solidarity as possible,” he urged, saying that while the UK has left the EU, the gas pipelines between the two countries remain in place.
In some ways, it does appear that there are reasons Britain may wish to come to some sort of gas agreement with Germany.
While the UK has a far greater capacity to take in Liquified Natural Gas, with Germany so far lacking any actual terminals to accept tankers carrying the fuel, the level of gas storage in Germany is far higher than what is currently present in the UK.
However, while Britain may have as much as 96 per cent less storage than Germany, with it looking like it has just secured an LNG gas supply from the United States, coming to any sort of supply agreement with its fellow European nation may ultimately be more of a liability than a potential safety fallback.
Although Müller has claimed that Germany is in good shape for this coming winter, with temperatures in the country being far milder than usual so far, a sudden cold snap in the country could see authorities forced to implement strict gas rationing measures.
Some may also note that now the country is in trouble Germany is very keen to make friends, yet when they were warned a heavy dependence on Russian gas imperilled their national security, they were quick to turn scorn and derision on their allies for daring to point out the obvious.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.