German Economy Minister Robert Habeck called for reducing dependence on Russian gas as the country needs even more gas than before to gradually phase out coal and nuclear energy, German media group Funke reported on Saturday.

“Germany obtains more than 50% of its gas from Russia. There is considerable potential for blackmail in this – especially now in the Ukraine conflict,” the minister told Funke amid tensions between Moscow and the West over whether Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.

“We need to improve our supplies for next winter. Work on this has already begun,” the media group cited Habeck as saying.

He also told Funke the country was building new gas-fired power plants that can switch from fossil fuel to hydrogen, and these plants “must be in place by 2030 if we want to phase out coal by then.”
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Zuzanna Szymanska in Berlin Editing by Matthew Lewis)