Germany will need three years to organize alternative gas supplies, said E.ON’s CEO Leonhard Birnbaum, warning that the economy would suffer 'huge damage' without deliveries from Russia.
– We would estimate that this would require a period of three years – Birnbaum replied on Monday when asked how quickly Germany could rid itself of dependence on Russian gas.
The German economy would suffer 'huge damage, which should be avoided if at all possible', he said. The priority of the gas network regulator will be heating for citizens, not industry, so the first blow in the event of potential supply restrictions will fall on companies that consume a lot of energy, such as steelworks, explained the E.ON chief.
He also warned of secondary effects that could be caused by shortages of parts and raw materials in other sectors.
Last week, the Ministry of Economy announced that Germany could halve its oil imports from Russia this year while it could still be dependent on gas imports for at least another two years. Abandoning Russian gas will require 'building renewable energy sources, consistently reducing consumption at all levels, and diversification'.
– We could, through joint efforts, become independent of Russian gas by the summer of 2024 – states a document published by the Ministry of Economy last Friday, but only with gas savings and increased use of hydrogen.
In that case, we could reduce the share of Russian gas in consumption to 10 percent by that deadline, it emphasizes. Therefore, Germany cannot agree to an embargo on imports of Russian gas, said Minister of Economy Robert Habeck.
