German consumers could see their gas bills double or triple by next winter, the head of the country’s energy regulator has warned.
Klaus Muller, President of the Federal Network Agency, said the upcoming shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which brings Russian natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, could see gas cut off entirely.
“Most scenarios are not pretty and result in either too little gas at the end of winter or, a very difficult situation in the autumn or winter,” Muller told public broadcaster ARD on Friday.
The official called on people to save energy as bills soar.
“Everyone in industry and in their home life can contribute to this — and yes, this also includes jumpers, shower heads, turning the heating down a bit, all of this helps,” he said.
Earlier this week, Russian energy giant Gazprom said the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline would stop delivering gas to Germany for 10 days in mid-July due to scheduled annual maintenance. The work will take place from July 11 to July 21.
Last week, the Russian company was forced to slash deliveries via the pipeline by as much as 60% due to technical issues stemming from Western sanctions against Moscow. Gazprom said that German equipment supplier Siemens Energy had failed to return gas-pumping units to a compressor station on time, as the repaired turbines for the gas route are currently stuck at a maintenance facility in Canada due to Ottawa’s sanctions on Russia.
Russia’s explanation has been repeatedly dismissed as a pretext by the German authorities, which have accused Moscow of using gas as political weapon. Earlier this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov once again rejected the allegations, saying Berlin had been informed of the “service cycles” of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
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