The German government's new plan aims to encourage more efficient use of energy by all sectors of society in order to reduce the country's dependence on Russian fossil fuels by next winter.
"The most affordable and most effective contribution to greater independence is to reduce energy consumption," Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck said on Tuesday, presenting the project.
If Russia stops gas supplies to Germany, then, depending on weather conditions, German industry and households will miss from 2 to 12 billion cubic meters of blue fuel next winter, the Berlin-based energy consulting company Aurora Energy Research has calculated.
“The coming winter is a critical period,” said Kazimir Lorenz, the firm's expert. In his opinion, Germany and the EU will not be able to stop worrying about gas shortages until 2027 or 2028.
Due to rising prices for energy carriers and automobile fuel, inflation in Germany in April rose to 7.4% - a maximum over the past 40 years. Inflation in the Eurozone is even higher - 7.5%.
Recently, the German government lowered its 2022 GDP growth forecast to 2.2%. The European Commission also reduced its economic growth forecast for Germany from 4% to 2.7% and raised its inflation forecast from 3.5% to 6.1%.
“The risk of interruptions in energy supplies remains high for the European economy,” said Joachim Lang, head of the Federation of German Industry. He warned that the suspension of Russian gas exports "would hamper the growth of the European economy and plunge the EU into recession."
