Austria has announced that it will subsidize companies that bring non-Russian natural gas to the country in the coming months as part of a plan to quickly reduce the country’s highly dependent 80% supply from Russia’s Gazprom.
In a statement, the Austrian Climate Ministry today announced “key points for the promotion of gas diversification”, drawn up by the government in accordance with a new law recently passed in parliament.
“Companies that bring non-Russian natural gas to Austria and use it here between July 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 will receive funds to cover part of the additional costs,” the statement read.
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The ministry stresses that subsidies to alternative sources to Russian gas will reduce Austria’s energy dependence, since the country buys 80% of the gas imported from Russia, although a part is for later export.
However, it is a “requirement” for the subsidy “that the gas be stored in Austrian warehouses or consumed in Austria,” the ministry stresses.
For now, the Government has made available a total of 100 million euros to cover these subsidiesalthough it does not exclude that the amount may increase in the future.
It also provides for the possibility of extending the period of validity of the measure beyond the end of the year “if necessary”.
The announcement of the grants follows a significant drop in gas storage last week, caused by a halving supplies from Russia Y an increase in exports to Italy.
Austria fears that it will not be able to fill its gas storage tanks, currently at 45%, before the start of the heating season.
To reach the goal set with European Union (EU) partners of 80% by November, the Alpine Republic needs to store enough to generate a total of 33,512 gigawatt hours (GWh), which would mean an average rate of 368 GWh per day for the next 91 days. But since last Tuesday the injected volumes have been much lower, with several days below 100 GWh.
Speaking to Austrian public television ORF, climate minister Leonore Gewessler, an environmentalist, called the situation “serious and tense”, which will be discussed at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
In addition, the FPÖ (Ultranationalist Freedom Party), which opposes the sanctions of the European Union (EU) against Russia and accuses the Government of inaction in recent months after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the end of February , requires the convening of the National Security Assembly Council.
Source: Observadora
