After Russia dramatically reduced gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the supply of Russian natural gas to France through Germany has come to a complete stop.
Gas supplies in France are not being affected by this, and the filling of storage facilities for the winter is going ahead, the gas network operator “GRT Gaz” announced on Friday. Given an already declining gas consumption, imports through the French-German gas hubs have already been 60 percent lower than last year since the beginning of the year, the company said.
The pipelines are therefore only being used to ten percent of their original capacity. No more natural gas has been entering France via Germany since Wednesday. In contrast, more gas is being imported into France via a pipeline from Spain.
According to the gas network operator, even if Russia completely turned off the gas tap, there would be no threat of problems in France during a normal winter. In a harsh winter, there could be calls for economical use as well as limited supply to some industrial customers.
When compared to other European countries, however, natural gas from Russia only plays a minor role for France. Since the start of the year, imports of liquefied natural gas have risen by 66 percent in France. The capacity of an LNG terminal near Marseille is now being expanded. Further capacity for liquefied gas is also to be created in the north of the country near the cities of Dunkirk and Le Havre.
According to the German Federal Ministry of Economics, the fact that France has stopped receiving gas via German pipelines is a result of Russia’s cutback in supplies from Nord Stream 1. However, despite the reduced supplies from Russia, the German government continues to regard the gas supply in this country as stable.
Nevertheless, a spokesman for Economics Minister Robert Habeck spoke of a serious situation. Up to now, no European Union country has triggered a solidarity mechanism, he said. In the event of a crisis, such emergency plans are intended to regulate who is supplied with gas – and who is not.
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