NaturalNews.com by: Mary Villareal
Companies in France may need to cut back on their natural gas usage as shortages are likely to hit in the winter.
Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher said France’s strategic gas reserves were 80 percent full at the moment, which means that they could reach 100 percent capacity before November. Yet, she insisted later on that full stocks may not be enough to avoid gas cuts as the government continues to seek alternative sources.
“It’s not so simple. We might have a particularly cold day and because of the size of the pipelines, we can’t pump all of the gas we have,” she said.
Government agencies and businesses must also reduce their consumption electricity because it is often produced based on natural gas.
France relies on natural gas to get through the winter season, and households and businesses use it as a major fuel source to heat their buildings. It is less reliant on Russian gas compared to other European Union (EU) countries, but it still warns of shortages. France generates around three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear power, and nuclear plants have been recently shut down for maintenance and checks.
