To secure the natural gas supply, Austria should prepare much more precise emergency plans and also call for savings for households. “The risk of an impending significant restriction of gas availability in Austria is high,” says a broadcast from the institute.
“Ready-to-use models” and suitable incentives to save should already be available for the coming autumn, Wifo researcher Jürgen Janker demanded in a radio interview yesterday. That could help in the fall should there be a gas shortage. The government should also consider what a possible auction of gas could look like if the commodity were to become scarce.
In an emergency, every industry, every sector will see itself as system-critical, said Wifo boss Gabriel Felbermayr. It is clear that the power supply must be given very high priority, because a lot is involved here. “Without gas, the stability of the grids cannot be guaranteed, that applies to Austria as well as to Germany,” said Felbermayr. The first thing to do would be to close heated swimming pools, without which we can get through the winter just fine.
Even if there is neither a European gas embargo nor a supply stop by Russia, “it costs little in comparison to intensively prepare for a significantly lower gas availability in Austria from now on,” says the Wifo broadcast.
From Wifo’s point of view, a debate should start and detailed analyzes should be carried out in order to survive sudden reductions in gas supply with the least possible economic losses.
According to Wifo, regular monitoring of how many renewable energy sources are connected to the grid, how much gas has been saved compared to the average in the past, and which alternative delivery quantities have been fixed could already help, according to Wifo, in order to improve the predictability of the consequences of a gas delivery stop.
Source: Nachrichten
