The accelerated phase-out of coal in Berlin and Brandenburg means that we are increasingly dependent on Russian gas. This dependency was recklessly planned and is now getting on our feet, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The energy transition includes replacing oil, coal and nuclear power. However, because wind power, solar energy and biomass will not be sufficient in the foreseeable future, natural gas is to fill the gap.
Berlin is leading the way on this path. The Senate would like to switch the supply of electricity and district heating completely to gas by 2030, while the “coal phase-out” in the rest of Germany is only planned by 2038.
However, 50 percent of the gas, on which we will be completely dependent, comes from Russia. This import cannot be replaced because the other suppliers, such as Norway and the Netherlands, cannot increase their capacities and liquid gas is also not available on this scale.
We rely on the Russian rooster to remain open. So we are open to blackmail. And that’s why it seems incredible or even ridiculous when we threaten the Kremlin with tough sanctions or with stopping the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline. How can you threaten someone whose existence you depend on as much as we do on Moscow?
And it’s not just about gas: 95 percent of the oil for our region in eastern Germany comes from Russia. It is delivered to Schwedt via the Druzhba (“friendship”) pipeline and processed there in a refinery into diesel, petrol and heating oil, which belongs to the Russian state-owned company Rosneft. Even the processing is in Putin’s hands!
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Without the Russian imports of raw materials, our industry and agriculture would collapse, we would literally starve. So what do we want? What alternative do we have?
Our domestic source of energy is coal. She was ostracized because of the CO2 emissions. Hard coal mining has already been stopped, brown coal is to follow, which accounts for more than 80 percent of Brandenburg’s electricity supply.
Is it right to get out of coal? Maybe, but only if you have a full replacement. Take, for example, Berlin’s largest power plant, Reuter West, which consumes 4,500 tons of hard coal on a winter’s day, i.e. 135,000 tons in one month. Whoever replaces this amount with gas must be able to guarantee that they will get it.
German energy policy has recklessly relied on Russian imports. With the invasion of Ukraine, the dream was shattered, there is no plan B. The situation here is even more difficult than in other countries, because we are not only phasing out coal, but also nuclear power.
The Chancellor should first clarify the question of where we get oil, petrol and gas before he sends the next implausible threat towards Moscow.
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