Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant, slashed supplies delivered to Germany, Italy and Slovakia last week. As well as causing chaos in Europe right now, there are fears Russia could cut off more gas in retaliation to Western sanctions at a crucial time – during the winter when demand will soar. This has prompted fears of energy shortages and blackouts in Europe over the cold winter months.
Now, countries are stocking up on coal so they can keep the lights on over winter as Europe suspects Russian President Vladimir Putin will send prices soaring and supplies plummeting even further.
The cut has also forced countries to trigger emergency warnings.
Denmark has already activated the first step of a three-stage emergency gas plan.
This means the Nordic state will monitor its market more closely.
Italy has also warned that the country may be pushed into a “state of alert”.
The country’s main power company, Eni, reported on Friday that the Russian gas supplies only accounted for 24 percent of its gas imports.
This is nearly a 50 percent dip as the country usually gets 40 percent of its gas from Russia, and on Sunday it reported that supplies had been slashed for six straight days.
Now, the Italian Government and its energy industry are set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss emergency measures, which may involve gas rationing.
Slovakia, which has its supplies slashed by Gazprom by half over the weekend, announced the cut continued through Monday.
Karol Hirman, an energy expert, said: “Putin’s goal is to completely stop gas supplies to the EU.”
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She said: “We could be living through the reality of not getting this right as soon as this winter, if the concerns being raised about blackouts and shortages come to pass.”
The Netherlands also announced it is considering following the same path to stave off an energy shortage.
On Monday, the country lifted the cap on production by coal-fired power plants, claiming it could help it save two billion cubic metres of gas annually.
And like Denmark and Italy, the Netherlands is also considering triggering an “early warning” phase of a crisis plan designed to cope with slashed gas supplies.
Europe’s return to coal comes as the bloc attempts to press ahead with the green transition and slash its reliance on fossil fuels.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Financial Times: “We have to make sure that we use this crisis to move forward and not to have a backsliding on the dirty fossil fuels.”
But the opposite appears to be happening as countries stock up on coal for winter.