The south faces enormous energy problems in winter. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in particular not only need Russian gas – they also lack a lot of electricity after the nuclear power plants have been shut down. What the two industrially strong federal states need now.
The Wacker chemical plant is located just a few meters from the Austrian border. At the edge of the huge industrial complex, you can look down on the plant from a hill in one direction, while on the other side you can see neighboring European countries – it’s that close.
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber stands with his arms crossed in the direction of Wacker and surveys the site. As part of his summer trip home, he visits the company, which is of the utmost importance for his region. Huber’s look shows a mixture of pride and concern. Proud because the Bavarian chemical triangle is located here in the district of Altötting – an enormously important branch of industry for the Free State.
And concern, because without gas in Bavarian industry, there is not only a risk that production will have to be stopped, but also that a lot of jobs are at stake. For companies like Wacker, Daimler or Siemens, which have long made Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg into prosperous regions, these are times of uncertainty.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder knows that. He also knows what promises he needs from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to ensure the energy supply for industry in the south. But: Neither the CSU politician Söder nor his green neighbor Winfried Kretschmann succeeds in influencing the decisions of the traffic lights in the federal government.
The biggest problem in Bavaria: the dependency on Russian gas is greater than in any other federal state. According to figures confirmed by the Bavarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, 36 percent of natural gas and oil imports came from Russia in 2020. In 2021 it was even 45 percent.
In addition, two of the three nuclear power plants that are still in operation are in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which has a noticeable effect on the power supply of the two countries. The proportion of nuclear energy here is significantly higher than in other federal states.
In addition to Söder, Kretschmann is also warning against taking the piles off the grid at the end of the year. The operators of the natural gas storage facilities consider the gas supply in Germany to be stable despite reduced deliveries – even a filling level of over 90 percent is considered possible by November 1st. However, both the operators and the Federal Network Agency warn that the situation will remain tense and that as much energy as possible must be saved.
Although the nuclear power plants produce electricity and not heat, gas is also used to generate electricity. The debate about whether to switch off the piles will come up again at the latest when gas is being used to generate electricity in winter while the federal government is taking another energy source, i.e. the piles, off the grid.
Söder, who had recently spoken out in favor of extending nuclear power several times, asked FOCUS Online: “Why is it taking so long for the urgently needed extension of nuclear power to be decided for a limited transitional period?”.
It is also clear that even if the reactors remain connected to the grid, there will be a lack of gas in the south in the medium term. The switch to renewable energy and potential hydrogen alternatives could take years.
The CSU chairman therefore calls on the traffic light to provide gas alternatives to bridge the gap in a timely manner: “The head of the Federal Network Agency predicts two difficult winters. Therefore, we must not talk about measures of a few months, but about a long-term strategy,” said Söder. The federal government must deliver. Saving energy is right and necessary, but will not solve the problems on its own. “It needs a replacement. Hence the key question: where is the other gas? While Italy has long since concluded contracts with Qatar for liquid gas, the traffic light is still in the announcement mode,” criticized the Prime Minister to FOCUS Online.
Söder’s third problem: Austria recently announced that it would connect the Haidach gas storage facility near Salzburg, which is important for Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, to its own network as soon as possible. Should there be energy bottlenecks in winter, the CSU boss fears that gas reserves that are actually intended for Germany could be taken out of storage. And if at the end of the year the reactors are also taken off the grid, then industry in the south will have a massive problem.
Söder therefore appealed to the traffic lights on Monday to clarify the supply of Bavaria and other federal states (such as Baden-Württemberg) from the Haidach storage facility. The wish: The federal government should make transparent what has been agreed here with Austria. The traffic light must say clearly when and how much gas will flow to Bavaria or whether the supply could be at risk.
The Wacker chemical plant in the district of Altötting also obtains a large part of its energy from Haidach. The company, which supplies polysilicon for the construction of solar systems, among other things, is classified as systemically important. However, where the gas will come from if less comes from Haidach, only reduced quantities come, no one here knows.
