The dependence on Russian natural gas in Germany is so great that if supplies from Russia were to be stopped and the remaining quantities of natural gas distributed to Europe, Germany would have to reduce its natural gas consumption in the heating gas sector or in the industrial sector by 100 TWh per year .

Berlin said it will bring down gas usage in power generation by "possibly keeping coal-fired power plants as a security standby for longer."

Speaking to the Bundestag parliament, Scholz said German will continue to look to reduce its dependency on Russian oil and gas but warned "hasty" action could trigger a recession.

The German energy regulator Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) has launched a tender for the development of 1,320 MW of onshore wind capacity.

Germany has missed emissions targets for two straight years.

The German Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) has published the results of the latest tenders for onshore wind with a bidding date set for 1 February 2022.

Germany will look into all options in response to the likely decrease or stop in Russian fossil fuel deliveries to Germany, including a longer run-time of nuclear and coal-fired power plants, even if those options are unlikely.

Europe's top economy has been under pressure from other Western nations to become less dependent on Russian gas, but its plans to phase out coal-fired power plants by 2030 and to shut its nuclear power plants by end-2022 have left it with few options.

Halting the certification process means the 55 Bcm/year pipeline -- which was completed in September -- will be unable to begin commercial operations.

Stocks were now at 35%-36%, under the "critical level" of 40%, which the German government deems is necessary to withstand seven straight days of an extreme cold snap.