Berlin looking for liquefied natural gas alternatives, reached out to Canada, but nothing panned out.
The Die Zeit newspaper on Tuesday reported this latest news which shows Germany's plight as the diminished natural gas supplies from Nord Stream 1 is down to only 20%. Attempts to wean the country from Russian oil and gas have only worsened the economic situation.
No Gas Bailout From Ottawa
Last Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met in Montreal to discuss the possibility of transporting some of Canada's abundant natural gas to German terminals across the Atlantic, reported RT.
However, the report claimed that Trudeau appeared to dismiss such a notion. The Canadian leader said there isn't yet a compelling business case for constructing a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Saint John or anywhere else. But even if there is, he didn't completely rule out the possibility that Canadian natural gas could help Europe's energy shortage.
According to Trudeau, natural gas would need to be transported via pipeline from the fields of Western Canada to an Atlantic coast liquefaction station that is still undergoing construction. Europe's efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources would be expensive and not a wise investment to consider, mentioned Al Jazeera.
PM Trudeau added that the need to transfer the liquefied natural gas over vast distances before liquefaction had deterred it from ever being a persuasive business case due to the distance from the gas fields. One of the better alternatives to building projects is to support the global market by replacing gas and energy so that Berlin and Europe can find those assets elsewhere.
Nuclear Power Is Not an Option
The Economy Minister Robert Habeck says the plants cannot drastically impact the electricity supply, noted Free Malaysia Today.
He said that nuclear power plants could not compensate for the lack of electricity because their capacity is insufficient to compensate for the lack of natural gas.
Habeck said during a meeting with citizens at a government open-door day that the decision was flawed given the small amount we would save.
German officials are debating whether to lengthen the service life of the nation's three active nuclear power plants to compensate for the steadily decreasing Russian natural gas imports.
The official claimed that sustaining the plants would only save 2% of gas, which is totally inadequate and unlikely to make any difference.
It's problematic because it would bring up an earlier debate regarding former Chancellor Angela Merkel's legislation to stop using nuclear power by the end of 2022.
He mentioned that a nuclear power plant found in Bavaria might be allowed to operate and take the slack. If put through a stress test, it can support the power supply this winter to a considerable degree.
On the other hand, German chancellor Scholz stated the result of the tests would be ready by early September or later in the month.
A mad scramble for Berlin to find sources of liquefied natural gas could replace what sanctions have deprived Germany of. Vladimir Putin said that the bloc was committing economic suicide; nothing illustrates it more than Olaf Scholz trying to please those against the EU itself, not Russia.
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