After Germany took emergency measures to return to the use of coal for power generation, Austria announced that it would restart a coal-fired power plant due to the shortage of electricity production caused by the reduction of Russian gas imports due to sanctions.
The Austrian government said in a statement after a crisis meeting that the authorities will work with the "Ferband" group, the country's main electricity supplier, to restart the plant in the southern city of Melach.
Austria aims to boost electricity production from coal again in emergency cases, but the Environment Ministry told the Austrian news agency "Apa" that the process would likely take several months.
Milach, which was the country's last coal-fired power plant, closed in the spring of 2020, as the government phased out polluting energy in an effort to transition to 100 percent renewable energy sources.
"Our first goal is to secure supplies to the country," said Austrian conservative Chancellor Karl Nahammer, who rules in alliance with the Greens, adding that 80 percent of gas supplies come from Russia.
He added, "It is about replacing Russian gas with other sources or suppliers so that we can continue to build reserves."
Bitter but necessary
In Germany, the Ministry of Economy announced yesterday in a statement that "in order to reduce gas consumption, less gas must be used to generate electricity. Therefore, coal-fired power plants will have to be used more."
"It is bittersweet but necessary in order to reduce gas consumption," Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement. His party had made the rapid disposal of coal a priority, noting that a law in this regard should be passed by the beginning of summer.
Concretely, the German government will allow the use of "backup" coal-fired power plants that are currently in use as a last resort.
At the same time, he stressed that resorting to coal for power generation is a "temporary" measure in the face of the "deteriorating" situation in the gas market.
This step comes as a response from European governments to the Russian company "Gazprom"'s announcements of reducing gas shipments through the Nord Stream pipeline, against the backdrop of the confrontation between Western countries and Russia in the context of the Ukraine crisis.
Under the pretext of a technical problem, the group reduced its shipments by 40% and then 33%.
This decision had a great impact on several European countries, especially Germany, Italy and France.
For Berlin, which still imports 35% of its gas needs from Russia, compared to 55% before the crisis, the situation is "serious," according to Economy Minister Habek.