Austria is getting more gas from Russia again. The NEOS see the reasons for this, among other things, in the slow expansion of renewable energy sources. And something else stands out: Austria pays more for Russian gas than for the war.
Austria’s dependence on Russian gas increased again at the end of 2022. According to the energy dashboard of the responsible climate ministry, an estimated 71 percent of gas imports came from Russia in December. From May to October 2022, dependence gradually fell from over 70 percent to just under 20 percent. Before the war in Ukraine, Austria depended for about 80 percent on Russian gas.
The reasons for the increase in November and December are lower imports from Germany and Italy, while at the same time relatively constant gas flows from Russia. Gazprom had severely throttled gas supply volumes to OMV during the summer, but recently started to deliver more.
The NEOS criticize that Austria is increasingly developing into a special case in Europe. According to Lukas Sustala, director of NEOS Lab, Europe has never received so little Russian gas as in recent weeks. However, electricity production from renewable energy sources in Austria is stagnating.
Austria pays more for Russian gas than for the war
Sustala refers to data from Ember, according to which Austria is one of the few EU countries to generate less electricity from renewable energy sources in 2022 than in 2017. This is mainly due to hydropower, which suffered from last year’s drought.
Using foreign trade statistics, NEOS also calculated how much money Austria had transferred to Russia for gas. From January to November 2022, it was about 6.7 billion euros. Despite the low volume, this is more than three times as high as in the years before the war.
OMV boss Alfred Stern said last week that Gazprom is currently delivering 100 percent of the ordered quantities to Austria again. In the summer that was sometimes only 30 percent or even less.
The data comes from the Association of European Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-G) and the Austrian energy regulatory agency E-Control. However, since participants in the gas market are not obliged to state the exact origin of the gas when monitoring, inaccuracies – and associated changes – may occur.
On Tuesday, the gas storage facilities in Austria were still 74.9 percent full. This is a very high value for early February, after the winter months of December and January.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
