Canada wants to make an exception to the Russia sanctions and send a serviced turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline back to Germany. Minister Lemke wants to protect consumers from electricity and gas locks. All developments on the war against Ukraine in the liveblog.
12:29 a.m
Minister Lemke for a moratorium on electricity and gas locks
Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke believes that a moratorium on electricity and gas cuts is necessary if the energy crisis worsens further, with prices rising significantly. “It can happen that in the event of an absolute crisis, the Federal Network Agency allows energy companies to pass on increased prices to consumers despite a price guarantee,” Lemke told “Bild am Sonntag”. If that were to happen, a moratorium on power and gas cuts would be needed. It must be ensured that the suppliers can maintain the energy supply in the country, said the Green politician. “And on the other hand, in such a crisis situation, nobody should have their electricity or gas cut off because they are in arrears with a bill.” The gas supply is currently secured, but one has to be prepared for “difficult times” in winter, when consumers need special protection.
In view of the impending gas shortage and high energy prices, the Association of Towns and Municipalities suggested setting up heating rooms. “Since nobody can say exactly how dramatic the development will be, consideration should also be given to providing heat islands or warm rooms where older people in particular can stay even in a very cold winter,” said managing director Gerd Landsberg to the newspaper.
12:29 a.m
Canada: Gas turbine for Nord Stream 1 pipeline
The way is clear for the delivery of the Siemens turbine for the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which will be serviced in Canada. The government in Ottawa said it would make an exception to the sanctions against Russia and send the turbine back to Germany. Russia had justified a throttling of gas deliveries through the pipeline, among other things, with the missing turbine. However, the federal government had emphasized that it considered this to be a pretense and saw that Russia was using gas supplies as a political weapon. Russia, on the other hand, had said that gas supplies to Europe would be increased again when the turbine repaired in Canada was returned.
The Canadian government has now announced that Siemens Canada will be granted a temporary and revocable permit to allow repaired Nord Stream 1 turbines to be returned to Germany. Without the necessary supply of natural gas, the German economy would have major problems and there was a risk that Germans would no longer be able to heat their homes in winter, they said. A spokesman for the federal government had recently spoken of “positive signals” from Canada for the return of the turbine. The government has argued the turbine should be reinstated so that Russia can no longer invoke a technical problem. Canada, in turn, did not like that because Ottawa feared violating Western Russia sanctions if the turbine was delivered to a compressor station in Russia. A solution was therefore considered in which the turbine would first be delivered to Germany.
The cut in gas supplies from Nord Stream 1 has led to emergency measures by the federal government. Among other things, she worries that the German gas storage facilities could not be sufficiently filled by autumn to also get companies that depend on gas for production to get through the winter well.
Maintenance work on the pipeline, which is expected to last ten days, will begin on Monday. The fear was repeatedly expressed that Russia could then send even less gas through the pipeline or none at all.