Germany is consuming too much gas amid the energy crisis, the head of the country's Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), Klaus Mueller, said on Wednesday.
Despite the drop in temperatures, he appealed to the public to "be mindful with gas consumption."
Germany's industry and households are currently not achieving the target of using 20 percent less gas than usual. This is also due to electricity generated by the country's gas-fired power plants and exported to France, according to Mueller.
An actual gas shortage in Europe's largest economy is still unlikely, Mueller said.
Germany had saved gas in October and November, which is now beneficial, he added. Storage facilities were at around 92 percent of capacity on Wednesday.
Mild temperatures during the autumn helped Germany bring its storages to full capacity. It was the third-warmest autumn since nationwide measurements began in 1881, according to the German Meteorological Service (DWD).
However, this year could see "one of the coldest winters of the past decade," a DWD spokesperson told Xinhua on Wednesday. "Whatever the case, saving energy is always the order of the day -- also in the interest of climate protection."
Germany's network agency is hoping that the cold spell will not last too long. "One, two, three weeks where it gets cold and we use more, we can easily handle that," Mueller said. But that situation should not continue in January and February.
Gas prices in Europe have more than doubled since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. After peaking at almost 350 euros (373 U.S. dollars) per megawatt hour at the end of August, European TTF (Title Transfer Facility) gas futures were trading at around 131 euros on Wednesday.
To deal with high gas prices and a looming supply deficit, joint solutions are also being sought at the European Union (EU) level, such as agreeing on common energy-saving targets and working on joint purchasing of gas.
Germany's industry is calling for haste. The new rules for joint procurement in the EU "must come now," Holger Loesch, deputy managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), said in a statement on Tuesday.
Editor: Galia
