Europeans brace for shortage of energy

BERLIN－European countries including Germany and Belgium are scrambling to find ways to wean themselves off their energy dependency on Russia amid the conflict in Ukraine.

Germany, which relies heavily on Russian gas, has serious concerns over securing supplies for next winter and is doing all it can to secure alternatives, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, said on Saturday.

"If we do not obtain more gas next winter and if deliveries from Russia were to be cut, then we would not have enough gas to heat all our houses."

Supplies are "not yet completely guaranteed", the Greens party member Habeck told Deutschlandfunk radio.

Habeck was later on Saturday headed for Qatar, which European states are increasingly counting on as a means of weaning themselves off Russian gas. Half of Germany's LNG imports come from Russia.

On Friday, Belgium delayed by 10 years a plan to scrap nuclear energy in 2025, spooked by the huge rise in energy prices.

"The federal government has decided to take the necessary steps to extend the life of two nuclear reactors by 10 years," the Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, said.

"This extension will strengthen our country's independence from fossil fuels in a turbulent geopolitical environment."

Prices have skyrocketed for Europeans since the Ukrainian conflict began, and EU leaders will meet this week to agree on fresh emergency measures to soften the blow for consumers and businesses.

Belgium has two working nuclear power plants with a total of seven reactors.

The promise of a gradual phaseout of nuclear power has been enshrined in Belgian law since 2003, and the decision to delay the moratorium was fiercely resisted by the Greens party.

In Friday's plan, which was negotiated during a marathon cabinet session, the government agreed to extend the operating lives of the Doel 4 reactor near the port city of Antwerp and Tihange 3 near Liege until 2035.

De Croo insisted that the decision would give the country certainty after years of quarreling over the wisdom of the nuclear exit.

"For too long our country has lacked vision. This has caused a lot of uncertainty. The plan we have on the table today responds to that lack of vision."

The government must negotiate with the French energy company Engie, owner of the nuclear power plants in Belgium, on the costs and delivery of the new plan.

Agencies via Xinhua