Climate Changed
Germany Set to Draw More Russian Gas, Regardless of What Trump Says
Natural gas is the main alternative for closing coal and nuclear power stations.
The Castoro 10 pipelay vessel lpipe for Nord Stream 2 om the Baltic Sea.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Germany is preparing one of its biggest sustained increases in natural gas consumption in almost two decades, regardless of U.S. admonitions that it shouldn’t draw so much of its energy from Russia.
Gas will be one of the main beneficiaries from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s effort to close coal and nuclear plants, which generate half of the nation’s electricity. While the government is seeking to spur renewables, industry executives, energy forecasters and investors say that more gas will be needed to balance the grid when power flows ebb from wind and solar farms.