Germany to wean itself off Russian oil and gas in next two years – Gas imports could halt almost completely by the middle of 2024. Oil, coal purchases could broadly end this year, minister says

26 comments

  4. Call/email/write to your local and national politicians and parliament members to urge the provision of critical air defensive weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian army so it can have more chances in rebuffing the evil russian army and stop this war asap.

  5. Germany plans to quickly wean itself off Russian fossil fuels, aiming to broadly end purchases of the nation’s oil and coal this year and almost completely halt imports of Russian gas by the middle of 2024.

    Economy Minister Robert Habeck made the announcement in Berlin Friday while reiterating Germany’s stance that an immediate embargo on Russian energy is not possible because of the damage it would cause to Europe’s biggest economy. Even his own plan poses an immense challenge for a country that’s become heavily dependent on Russia for energy supplies.

    “In recent weeks, we have made intensive efforts together with all relevant players to import fewer fossil fuels from Russia and to put supply on a broader footing,” Habeck said. “The first important milestones have been reached in order to free ourselves from the grip of Russian imports.”

    The invasion of Ukraine has shocked Germany and its European Union allies into a radical shift in energy policy, and the bloc is rushing to cut its dependence on Russia.

    Read more: U.S. Strikes Deal to Help Europe Replace Russian Gas Imports

    As part of the radical shift, the EU and U.S. on Friday unveiled a political pact aimed at paving the way for additional imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas. The deal provides a platform for the commercial agreements that will need to follow for shipments to begin.

    Habeck, a member of the Greens party who is also the vice chancellor, has also held talks recently with officials in Norway and Qatar in a bid to diversify its energy supplies.

    Germany, which has limited natural resources of its own, allowed itself to become reliant on Russia for around half of its gas and coal and about a third of its oil.

    Habeck said Germany wants to halve imports of Russian oil by mid-year and be “almost independent” by the end of 2022. It could be completely free of coal imports by the fall, he said.

    “Companies are letting contracts with Russian suppliers expire, they’re not extending them and are switching to other suppliers,” he added. “And at an insane pace.”

    The government acknowledged it would be difficult to remove Russian oil quickly from supply chains, and is rushing to make complex plans to line up deliveries by sea, truck and train.

    Cutting Germany’s reliance on Russian gas is also a challenge, partly due to a lack of the necessary infrastructure like LNG terminals, Habeck said. An expansion of renewables, a broad reduction in demand, diversification of suppliers and ramping up production of clean hydrogen are also essential elements, he added.

    “Even if we become less dependent on Russian imports, it is too early for an energy embargo at this point in time,” Habeck said. “The economic and social consequences would still be too serious. But every supply contract that is terminated harms Putin.”

    The Economy Ministry published a paper Friday entitled “Progress Report Energy Security” which set out some of the measures the government is taking.

  9. putin ruins a whole market for the russian people. of course not only germany will get its energy from other sorces, we will also help other european countries with knowledge to do the same.

  12. So we will just move our dependency from Russia to US. Wow. A bit better but not exactly the final solution. For the money that was wasted onto the dead NS2, we could have had put so many solar panels on so many roofs and provide both electricity and heating. Guess we missed the opportunity.

  13. Germany and Italy should be planning for a scenario where the Russians cut the gas next winter, because it could happen. I’d be insulating roofs and houses, insulation windows and floors, installing heat exchange pumps, solar panels, stocking up on wood, wool clothing… all that stuff.

    At the same time the whole of Europe should really continue the covid-19 working from home policy as much as possible, less oil consumed when fewer people commute to work.

  15. When this is over, will anybody really want to depend on Russia for oil and gas? Will any Western company look forward to sending their products back into the Russian market? Will anybody actually want to roll the dice and risk accumulating any assets in rubles? How staggeringly stupid was Putin’s “genius” military action in the end? Russia is not even done embarrassing itself or committing atrocities yet, and still it’s already clear that they will be paying for this mistake for decades.

  16. In a few years they’ll forget all about this and build even more gas transport facilities.

  20. Thanks to Mr Putdick, even those who previously haven’t been convinced of urgent need for green energy development and expansion suddenly are willing to go fully green on the spot.

  22. too late

    edit, of course it not too late. i just meant that it is a shame that we came at this stage and germans have been increasing their dependency over time without getting its consequences. they just went for the cheapest solution, typical german

  24. I feel really sorry for Robert Habeck. There was a short documentary about him and a day in his life and he already expressed feeling overworked before the invasion. Now he has to basically rethink the whole energy structure of our country through no fault of his own. I just wish he had a proper holiday.

  25. Germany was very naive. The relationship between Germany and Russia was not an equal one – Russia can find other buyers for its gas more easily than Germany can change their supplier. Moreover, having your people freeze, your grid blackout, and your industry shut down is a lot worse than losing some gas revenue.

  26. Turns out it was possible this whole time, all Germans needed was 10mln+ displaced and thousands of dead

Leave a Reply