“Tanks are full”, “supply is secure”, with “storage facilities in France that are more than 95% full”, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, chairman of Engie’s board of directors, assures with optimism, guest on Wednesday, September 21 at France Inter. While Russian gas was cut off“We will hardly have any more Russian gas next year,” but “there will be, he said, Norwegian gas, American gas, conventional gas or shale gas”.
“We are much better prepared than we feared three or four months ago,” says Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, thanks to the increase “massive” LNG ships transporting liquefied natural gas to Europe. However, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu acknowledges that “What is going to be very complicated in the coming months is the management of our storage” gas. The goal, he says, will be “to avoid the cold snap at the end of winter”, this moment “where we have less capacity.”
“Three conditions are needed to spend the winter without major difficulties”, specifies. “First the weather, it must be a normal winter, not very cold. Then economic activity should not restart in Asia.” continues Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, specifying that it is due to a “difficult economic situation” that “China launches its liquefied natural gas ships to Europe today.” Finally, the third condition is “achieve a 10% reduction in consumption”, This applies to both individuals and manufacturers.
The chairman of Engie’s board of directors thus asks the French to “reduce the temperature of homes and tertiary buildings” at 19 degrees. “Lowering the thermostat by one degree represents a saving of 7% in gas consumption in France”, he believes.
As for industrialists, large consumers of gas, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu observes that price increases have facilitated reductions in consumption. “There is a 30% reduction compared to what we saw last year. Less than 15% in France, less than 25% in Germany, less than 40% in the Netherlands,” indicates. The chairman of Engie’s board of directors acknowledges, however, that “This is very bad news for the European economy,” because the situation pushes the industrialists “stop their factories or move production to other regions of the world.”