Germany and France: closing ranks on gas and electricity

Germany has electricity that France needs – and France has gas that Germany needs. Scholz and Macron have therefore pledged mutual solidarity. The necessary infrastructure should be available shortly.

Germany and France have assured each other of mutual solidarity in the energy crisis. “Germany needs our gas and we need the electricity that is produced in the rest of Europe and in Germany in particular,” said French President Emmanuel Macron after a video conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

France will complete the necessary gas connections in the next few weeks to deliver gas to Germany when it is needed. In the same way, Germany has committed itself in relation to electricity supplies.

“This Franco-German solidarity is the commitment that we made with Chancellor Scholz,” said Macron. He did not initially provide any further details.

Possible European measures under discussion

The spokesman for the federal government, Steffen Hebestreit, said at the conference that the focus was on an exchange on the current situation in Europe’s energy supply and energy prices.

In addition to possible measures at European level, Scholz and Macron also talked about Franco-German solidarity in the energy sector. “President Macron and the Federal Chancellor informed themselves about the respective planned national steps and precautions. The Chancellor also outlined the content of the federal government’s relief package that was just being negotiated.”

Many nuclear power plants in France out of service

More than half of France’s 56 nuclear power plants are currently out of service due to repair work and the appearance of cracks. As a result, France’s energy supply has gotten into much more trouble than the lack of Russian gas supplies, which are not such a big part of the energy mix. At the wholesale market, a megawatt hour currently costs 1,000 euros. A year ago it was 85 euros. The high-performance hydroelectric power plants, which normally cover around 20 percent of the electricity requirement in France, are also supplying significantly less electricity this year due to the heat and the low level of precipitation.

The French President rejected the Midcat project, which was intended to build a third pipeline between Spain and France. Spain and Germany had recently campaigned for the pipeline project to be resumed.