Ribera does not rule out a situation of "maximum tension" with gas in the coming weeks

Given the possibility of the definitive closure of the Russian gas supply through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline

MADRID, 8 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The third vice president and minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, warned this Friday that she does not rule out a "maximum tension situation" in the gas markets in the coming weeks due to the closure of the Nord Stream gas pipeline 1, through which this raw material flows from Russia to Germany.

On July 11, the usual maintenance work will begin on this infrastructure, which, in principle, should remain closed for only about ten days due to these tasks. However, from Germany they predict that these works may become the prelude to a definitive cut in the supply of Russian gas to the German country.

"It is not something that we should rule out 100%, because a situation of maximum tension may occur, not in the autumn, but in the coming weeks," the minister assessed in an interview on the Antena 3 Public Mirror program and collected by Europe Press.

Asked about the impact that this definitive cut in supply would finally have, the head of Ecological Transition has emphasized that prices would surely increase, for which she has once again defended the possibility that the European Union (EU) joint purchases of this raw material.

The minister has also given her opinion on the decision of the French State to take over 100% of the main national electricity company, EDF, and has argued that the decision of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, must be understood in the context of the country's energy situation .

"The French State owned 84% of EDF and in France there is a practical domain of EDF (...) which has a huge market share. (...) EDF has a very serious problem, which is 43,000 million euros of debt and 55% of its nuclear plants (...) shut down for safety reasons linked to the design and wear of materials, which makes it very difficult for that to be recovered," argued Ribera.

"It is a measure that we could describe as a rescue of the main French electricity company in a situation in which it is commercially extremely sensitive," he added.