Germany’s massive energy crisis is “under control”, the country’s Chancellor has insisted despite repeated warnings of possible blackouts occurring over the coming months.
Olaf Scholz, the leftist Chancellor of Germany’s coalition government, has told the country’s parliament that the ongoing energy crisis is “under control”, and that the country will be able to get through the coming winter.
The statement stands in stark contrast to those made by a wide variety of officials and experts in Germany, with it being warned that the country could completely run out of gas by the end of February should contingency plans not perfectly line up.
Such warnings do not appear to be keeping the Chancellor up at night however, with Scholz insisting that the energy gap left by the absence of Russian gas has been closed by a combination of new supply and reduced usage.
“Germany’s energy security is well guaranteed for this winter,” the Social Democratic Party politician told parliament on Wednesday according to Die Welt, insisting that “we can say today: our country has it under control”.
Scholz justified this assertion by making reference to the savings measures implemented by businesses in Germany, as well as by members of the public, while also referencing the fact that Germany’s gas storage remains nearly full, and that both nuclear and coal-fired power plants have been kept online to make up the gas shortfall.
“All of this means that Germany’s energy security is well guaranteed for this winter,” the Chancellor went on to allege.
Germany Could Run Out of Gas by February, Must Cut Consumption by Up to 30 Per Centhttps://t.co/gaKX2vm7SB
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 21, 2022
Although Scholz is putting on an air of confidence when it comes to Germany’s energy crisis, reports from various officials, industry insiders and experts appear to be painting a very different picture, with the possibility of rolling blackouts seemingly still a looming possibility for the central European country.
For example, Scholz’s own Federal Network Agency — the federally-run organisation responsible for handling the supply of gas in Germany — has warned that supplies could run out by the end of February should any kind of issue occur.
According to the group, the country’s only hope of making it through the crisis without major issues is by sourcing sufficient supplies of foreign liquified natural gas (LNG) while keeping exports to other EU countries low.
Even if both of these criteria are achieved, the country will still have to cut consumption by 20 per cent on last year, with a failure in just one of these variables likely to result in Germany facing gas shortages.
To make matters worse, there have already been serious questions raised as to how achievable this 20 per cent reduction actually is, with one business organisation in the country saying such a reduction will only be possible through companies either curtailing production or closing up shop entirely.
Meanwhile, as problems mount, medium and large enterprises in the country have made a dash to acquire private electricity generators, seemingly in the hopes of keeping the lights on and — probably more importantly — the servers running should blackouts indeed occur.
German Companies Scramble to Buy Generators Amid Grid Collapse Fears https://t.co/LMfiPjoXHG
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) November 22, 2022
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