Germany will take emergency measures to ensure security of supply in the face of reduced deliveries of Russian gas, including increasing the use of coal-fired power plants to produce electricity, the government announced a few days ago.

"To reduce gas consumption, it has to be used less for electricity production. Alternatively, coal-fired power plants will have to be used more," the Ministry of Economy said in a statement.

This decision is a step backwards for this coalition government, where the Greens are prominent, and which promised to phase out coal by 2030.

"It is bitter, but it is essential to reduce gas consumption," reacted the ecologist Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck, in a statement.

The German government is reacting to the decline in Russian gas exports toward Europe since the beginning of sanctions against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Gazprom has halted its gas deliveries to several European customers, who have refused to pay in rubles.

The package of measures announced also provides for an "auction" system for the sale of gas to industrialists, allowing, according to Berlin, to decrease consumption in the powerful German manufacturing sector.

Source: Noticias ao Minuto