war in Ukraine
Habeck: New gas heaters are currently “politically wrong”
Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck considers the decision to have a new gas heating system to be politically incorrect and irresponsible in the current situation. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa
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Compared to its European neighbors, Germany is particularly dependent on gas, oil and electricity supplies. Consumers should therefore avoid installing new gas heaters.
Because of the war in Ukraine, Germany wants to reduce its gas dependency – according to Federal Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck, consumers should also do their part.
At a meeting of EU energy ministers on Monday in Brussels, the Green politician called for no more gas heating to be installed. “I would say that installing new gas heaters in this situation is politically wrong and no longer responsible,” he said. “Germany is more dependent on gas, oil and coal than other European countries.” This results in the obligation to get rid of it quickly, according to Habeck.
Prices are likely to continue to rise
In view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there are fears that gas prices could continue to rise or that Russia could cut off gas supplies to the EU altogether. Habeck repeated that he does not see nuclear power and coal as solutions in such a crisis. “For Germany, I can say that coal and nuclear power are not alternatives, but the situation in Ukraine shows us that they are the wrong energies,” said the Green politician. “So we will pursue other measures, namely the diversification of gas and the ramp-up of renewable energies, as a strategy.”
Talks were being held with Arab countries, among others, on gas imports, Habeck said. On Sunday, for example, Algeria’s state-owned energy company agreed to supply Europe with more gas via a pipeline to Italy in an emergency.
Habeck also welcomed a proposal from the EU Commission to link the Ukrainian power grid to the European one. “Of course we support Ukraine getting a common power grid faster with Europe,” he said. However, it must be ensured that the Ukrainian network is secure according to European standards and robust against cyber attacks. According to Habeck, the network operators are in the process of organizing this.