High cost, low availability: This is the new normal for German energy, warns finance minister
By ethanh // 2023-01-10
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With Russian gas via the Nord Stream pipelines now a thing of the past, Germany will face extremely high energy costs well into the future, says German Finance Minister Christian Lindner. In an interview with Bild, Lindner admitted that the loss of Russian energy could be a death sentence for Germany, which will have an increasingly more difficult time keeping its economy afloat without competitively priced energy. "It will be a new normal," Lindner said. "Gas via the liquid gas terminals is more expensive than Russian pipeline gas for logistical reasons alone. So, the price level remains higher, but without ruinous spikes." Western sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine have left Europe in quite the quagmire. Energy has become so prohibitively expensive and in short supply that national economies, including that of Germany, are threatened. (Related: Companies across Europe are going bankrupt due to skyrocketing energy costs.) In an attempt to keep things from spiraling further out of control, European Union (EU) member countries signed an emergency agreement back in December to impose a wholesale gas price cap of €180 ($191) per megawatt hour (MWh). This is set to take effect on February 15.

Energy prices have dropped some due to unseasonably warm weather, but one major cold spell could drive them right back up

In recent weeks, gas prices have declined some from their all-time highs, in part due to unseasonably warm weather in some parts of Europe. Should a cold spell come, those prices will spike right back up, possibly reaching new all-time highs. According to reports, the cost of front-month natural gas futures on the TTF hub in the Netherlands plunged to just over €73 ($78) MWh in household terms. This level has not been seen since last February. Despite this, gas prices still remain several times higher than the long-term average. In the 2017-2019 period before the covid "pandemic" and current energy crisis, for instance, TTF gas spot prices traded in the €10-25 MWh range. "A new normal enslavement way of living?" asked one commenter about what Lindner's comments actually reveal. "Isn't now the right time for Berlin to break its unbearable and long enough endured chains and set the German people free from disgrace?" Another pointed out that liquefied natural gas (LNG) sales from across the Atlantic, meaning from the United States and North America, will continue to "remain highly profitable" due to all the engineered turmoil taking place. "To acknowledge that high energy prices are the new normal is to accept the economic decline of Germany to become a 'third world' society," added someone else to the conversation. Since the vast majority of Germans are likely opposed to the political actions that created all this nightmare in the first place, it cannot be overstated how "amazing it is that so few can ruin the lives of so many," to quote another commenter. "The new normal for 400% more expensive LNG liquid natural gas vs. cheap, plentiful Russian pipeline natural gas," wrote another person. "When the balloon goes up for WW3 to begin, no LNG ship on earth would want to be caught in the open water to be blown up by anti-ship missiles, torpedoes, combat drones et al. Meaning those would be a tactically vital target by the East and a tactically vital need for the EU. The new normal would be easily taken away in less than 7 days leaving EU without natural gas nearly entirely. Back to coal? No EU coal from Ukraine, Russia obtained those massive Donbas coal fields last year. The latest news about the European energy crisis can be found at Collapse.news. Sources for this article include: RT.com NaturalNews.com
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