She did acknowledge, however, that Gazprom was fulfilling its contracts, "but only at the bottom end of its commitments."

"Aside from a few additional Bcms which could be squeezed out of (mainly LNG) exporters -- probably only on an emergency basis -- there is no substantial, immediately available gas which could compensate for any significant interruption of Russian gas supplies,"

The Commission said that, after taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, it considers there is a role for private investment in gas and nuclear activities in the transition.

Nord Stream 1 appeared to be returning to full capacity, according to the operator's data, with hourly gas flow nominations reaching 73 GWh since the start of Feb. 1 gas day, compared with 69 GWh/h for Jan. 31.

Gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline keep growing within the framework of the long-term bilateral contract between Gazprom and CNPC.

"As the federal government, we have once again clearly expressed our rejection of the inclusion of nuclear energy. It is risky and expensive," Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint statement with Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, both senior members of the Greens party.

The TTF day-ahead price hit an all-time high of Eur182.78/MWh on Dec. 21, an increase of 985% year on year,

Moscow plans to build a new pipeline to China, which could give Russia the power to sell gas to the highest bidder, pitting Chinese and European consumers against one another.

Investment in nuclear power totalling around EUR500 billion (USD565 billion) by 2050 will be needed if the European Union’s goal of carbon neutrality is to be hit

The front-month wholesale Dutch gas price , which is the European benchmark, eased to 140 euros per megawatt hour on Thursday, down by 15%.