Die Welt: German vice-chancellor’s plan to save energy will cost the budget 10 billion euros

A plan to test and optimize heating systems in Germany’s homes, proposed by Vice Chancellor, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck to save energy, will cost the country’s budget about 10 billion euros, the newspaper writes. Welt am Sonntag with reference to the calculations of the Federal Association of German Housing and Real Estate Companies (GdW).

“Measures to save energy in heating will be implemented in two stages. At the first stage, a special commission should check how the existing heating devices comply with the updated energy consumption standards,” the publication noted.

The second phase of the review, according to the newspaper, is that non-compliant appliances must be modified to operate in economy mode. The newspaper notes that out of the allocated 10 billion euros, about 8.4 billion euros will be returned within two years due to the resulting savings.

Formerly Bloomberg informedthat Germany will have enough gas for 2.5 months in the event of a cessation of supplies from Russia. At the end of July “Gazprom”, on the supply of which Germany is highly dependent, reduced the flow of gas through the Nord Stream due to the repair of turbines, now no more than 33 million cubic meters pass through the pipeline. m of gas per day instead of the planned 167 million cubic meters. m.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Western states imposed large-scale sanctions against the country. Restrictions also affected energy. Due to the reduction in gas supplies, European countries faced a shortage of energy carriers, as a result of which gas prices in Europe began to skyrocket.

The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, acknowledged the fatigue of EU citizens from sanctions against Russia. He also noted that the Europeans are “very concerned about the upcoming winter and the consequences of the energy crisis.” However, according to Borrell, it is not the EU sanctions that are to blame for the crisis threatening Europe, but the actions of Russia, which “turns energy into a weapon.”

In this regard, the EU countries began to look for an alternative to Russian gas and resort to various ways to save energy. So, it was decided to reduce their consumption by 7-15%. In addition, Germany called on households and companies to reduce gas consumption by 20%.