Financial Associated Press, October 27 (Editor Ma Lan)Conservation of gas has been reiterated back and forth as one of the key measures in Europe’s response to the gas crisis.
According to the European Commission’s vision, EU countries will save 15% of the average for the same period in the past five years between August 2022 and March 2023, but a German study shows that this vision is a bit too strong.
DIHK, the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that in the context of soaring energy costs, companies have entered a period of life and death, and there is not much room to save natural gas.
DIHK surveyed a total of 3,500 companies in various industries, and 60% of the companies believe that there is no or very little natural gas saving potential in the next five years, and the maximum saving may only be 2%. Another 20% of companies believe that the space saving is 2-5%, and another 20% believe that it is possible to reduce energy consumption by more than 5%.
But these estimates are far from the 15% the EU is looking for.
Peter Adrian, chairman of DIHK, said that the company’s short-term operational potential has been exhausted, and the goal of further reducing natural gas consumption in current production operations is obviously unrealistic, and the only way to achieve savings is to close the plant at present.
Therefore, other ways to mobilize additional gas or save gas must be found, which is the only way to avoid bankruptcy and protect the value chain.
DIHK believes that natural gas auctions may be a good way to allow companies that do not need gas to exchange natural gas for compensation and provide other companies with energy that is in short supply. But in order to get enough businesses involved recently, Germany needs a system that can store more natural gas.
In doing so, larger gas buyers get an additional incentive to reduce their consumption and help fill the gas storage further, Adrian said.
German production is no longer competitive. ArcelorMittal, one of Europe’s largest steel producers, caused an industry shake last month when it closed a large steel plant in Hamburg. Recently it said again that it would close the blast furnace at the Bremen plant by the end of October.
ArcelorMittal chief executive Reiner Blaschek warned that German production was no longer competitive.
Without more intervention, the economy will be plunged into disaster. Blaschek reminded that not only steel, but also other industrial sectors have serious problems, and the decline of the steel industry is likely to lead to a domino effect, which will bring down other industries in Germany.
According to the German Steel Trade Association, additional energy costs in Germany are expected to exceed $10.6 billion in 2022, or about 25% of the average annual turnover of the steel industry.
Germany has now invested nearly 200 billion euros to save the energy crisis, but the key issue of the gas crisis is to maintain stable and cheap supply. And now most LNG ships carrying liquefied natural gas are stuck in European seaports, because Europe does not have enough gas storage facilities to store new LNG.
In the short term, this batch of LNG will still be floating at sea, unable to unload and become a supply to Europe. European companies can only hope for “gas” and continue to struggle with gas shortages until European countries have greater gas storage capacity.
DIHK added that more and more companies are telling them that new contracts for electricity or gas supply in Germany are no longer available.