“Let’s prepare for the total cut of Russian gas, it is today the most probable option”, pleaded the number 2 of the French government, Bruno Le Maire.
“You have to put yourself in the worst-case scenario, because it exists. At any time, Russia can completely interrupt its gas deliveries, ”added the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, in an interview with Le Figaro dated Monday.
In terms of supply, “we can have tensions over gas this winter”, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had warned on Saturday during a meeting with the press.
“Faced with this risk, we are taking action by diversifying our gas supply sources, increasing our capacities with the floating LNG terminal project in Le Havre, and accelerating storage,” explained Ms. Pannier-Runacher.
In particular, the government has requested that national gas storage capacities be filled to “nearly 100%” by the beginning of the fall.
“On electricity, normally, according to EDF’s projections, we should have higher production as the twelve reactors (out of 56) currently shut down for corrosion will restart, said Ms. Borne on Saturday. .
But if electricity were to run out, the government is preparing for the winter a series of measures intended to prioritize households and certain industries.
“Obviously we preserve households and (…) we do not cut factories or public transport”, detailed Ms. Borne on Saturday.
“We have to put ourselves in battle order now on the organization, the shedding, the sobriety, the reduction of consumption… it is now that we must take the decisions”, echoed the Minister of the Economy.
– “Spread the effort –
Thus certain industrial sites might be asked to “slow down their energy consumption, or even stop their energy consumption for a certain time”, explained Mr. Le Maire, while specifying that “it is totally impossible”. for certain sites, so as not to “break the industrial tool”.
Faced with the risk that Vladimir Poutine cuts off the gas tap to Europe, “a credible option” said Bruno Le Maire in an interview with LCI on the sidelines of the Aix Meetings, we must “anticipate the consequences”.
“We must distribute the effort between administrations, individuals and companies”, explained Bruno Le Maire, in a France which says it is in a more “favorable” situation than its neighbors.
The government has launched three working groups to improve energy sobriety in the administration, businesses and establishments open to the public. The objective is to establish a roadmap to reduce energy consumption by 10% within two years compared to 2019.
“Sobriety is a complete change in our behavior, to keep us warm, to move around, to produce. And this is the key to not being in the hands of a geopolitical enemy,” said the Minister for Energy Transition.
“It’s a matter of several months, but (it) must also lead us to take a certain number of investment decisions and to show imagination”, maintained Bruno Le Maire on LCI.
The risk of energy shortages does not stop at the French borders, the President of the European Commission having called on Wednesday the 27 Member States of the European Union to “prepare for new disruptions in the supply of gas, or even a complete shutdown on the part of Russia. »
