German should halt use of gas-fired electricity generation, proposes Federal Minister of Finance Christian Wolfgang Lindner out of concern that the country will run out of the fuel in step with Russia reducing supply, and if natural gas continues to be used to generate electricity as is currently the case, Lindner tells media Bild am Sonntag.

”We must work to prevent an electricity crisis atop the gas crisis. Gas should no longer be used to generate electricity such as takes place today,” he says.

The finance minister says his colleague, Minister of Economy and Energy Robert Habeck, has the power to enforce such a restriction.

In the event such becomes necessary, Lindner points out that Germany could alternatively use its ”safe and climate-friendly nuclear power plants” until 2024.

However, the ministers of finance and economy/energy seem to disagree somewhat on the matter.

A spokesperson from Habeck’s ministry says a ”total ban on gas-fired electricity would lead to an electricity crisis and power outages.”

The spokesperson goes on to say that some German power plants generating electricity need gas to function, adding that these facilities are crucial for the Germany’s electricity supply, however saying that, where possible, reduction of gas use for producing powers will be sought.

Germany is highly dependent on cheap natural gas form Russia, but state-owned Gazprom has dialed down on supply through pipeline Nord Stream 1 to 20% of maximum transmission capacity.

Germany claims that Russia’s gas volume reduction is politically motivated as retaliation for the series of economic sanctions the EU has imposed on Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has rejected as much, attributing limited gas supply to maintenance of gas turbines used to pump the fuel through the pipeline.

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