French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that his country was ready to deliver gas to Germany this coming winter should the energy crisis make such a move necessary.
This would allow Germany to produce more electricity which, in turn, would allow Germany to contribute electricity to the French power grid during peak hours, he told reporters after a video call with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“We are going to complete the gas connections that will allow us to deliver gas to Germany,” Macron said.
Both Germany and France are scrambling to replenish gas reserves after Russia curtailed deliveries in retaliation for western support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Germany is more dependent on Russian gas than France, which generates most of its electricity in nuclear power stations.
The French government has repeatedly warned that companies and retail users needed to cut down on their energy use next winter, with electricity outages a possibility if the winter is unusually cold.
On Monday, Macron said “the answer is up to us” and French people needed to cut their energy consumption by, for example, by using air conditioning and heating a “bit less than usual” to avoid power outages.
Indoor temperatures in the winter should be kept to no more than 19 Celsius (66 Fahrenheit), he said.
Macron also said he was in favour of joint gas purchases by EU governments which he said would make them cheaper.
France, he added, would meanwhile back any move by the European Commission to set a price limit on gas bought from Russia and delivered by pipeline.
