Gas Prices In Germany Expected To Triple In 2023 - Regulator

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2022) Consumer prices for gas in Germany, which have already been doubling, are expected to at least triple in 2023 amid the global energy crisis, the head of the German regulatory office for energy, Federal Network Agency, said on Thursday.

"From 2023, gas consumers will have to expect an increase in advance payments by at least three times," Klaus Muller told German news agency RND.

Advance payments for gas have already been doubling in the country, even without taking into account the consequences of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the regulator's chief added.

Moreover, some prices on the stock exchanges have already increased seven times, according to Muller.

"Not everything will immediately and fully affect consumers, but at some point they will have to pay for it. And that is why it makes sense to save more now," he said, as quoted by the news outlet.

Since 2021, energy prices in Europe, in particular in Germany, have been surging as part of a global crisis. After the beginning of Russia's operation in Ukraine and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the West, the situation with energy prices has significantly worsened.

Today, a kilowatt of electricity obtained from gas costs about 22 euro cents for German consumers, which is four times higher than in 2021.

In mid-June, Russian energy giant Gazprom announced that it could supply only 67 million cubic meters of gas to Nord Stream per day, while the initially scheduled volume stood at 167 million cubic meters. The company explained the reduction by the development of the overhaul cycle of gas compressor units (GCU), delays in the operation of Germany's Siemens corporation, which failed to return GCUs from repair from a Canadian plant due to Ottawa's sanctions against Russia, and technical malfunctions of engines.

Against this background, on June 23, German Energy Minister Robert Habeck announced the activation of the second phase of the country's gas emergency plan, which stipulates, among other things, that companies have to limit gas consumption.