With a direct appeal to citizens that "every kilowatt hour helps," German Economy Minister Robert Habeck on Wednesday alerted the country to the fact that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was already having a profound effect on energy policy in Europe's largest economy.
"There are no current supply bottlenecks," Habeck said. "But we have to ramp up our precautionary measures to be ready in case of an escalation from the Russian side."
Habeck's decision puts the country on an early alert, as detailed in its emergency gas supply plan.
The three-stage emergency plan details ways to conserve gas, secure supplies and make sure households have adequate amounts of fuel.
The alert comes just one day before a deadline given by the Kremlin for working out the technicalities of making payments for Russian gas in roubles, rather than euros.
Germany, along with other Western countries, has rejected the idea of making payments in roubles, saying switching currencies would be a breach of contract.
Nevertheless, an emergency team is now being assembled to review Germany's options.
"This means all gas consumers - from businesses to private households - have to reduce their usage as much as possible," Habeck said.
"We are in a situation where I must say clearly ... every kilowatt hour helps," he said.
Should the situation require Germany to implement its highest warning level, the government would likely take over distribution.
This would be to ensure gas was available for "protected customers," which means households, hospitals, fire services and the police.
The invasion of Ukraine has prompted a series of sanctions on Russia that have left Moscow scrambling for foreign currency reserves. However, Europe has not cut off its purchases of oil and gas.
Nearly half of the European Union's gas imports come from Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to Western sanctions by announcing on March 23 that Russia would soon only accept payments for gas in roubles.
Energy prices are already rising in Europe. In Germany, the price of household energy and motor fuels rose by 39.5% in March compared to a year ago.
Further up the supply chain, the price of European gas is also rising. The price of benchmark Dutch TTF gas futures rose on Wednesday to €125 ($140) per megawatt hour. For months prior to the conflict, it had been at €70-80.
The German energy industry on Wednesday welcomed the alert sounded by the government.
The umbrella association for the energy and water industry, BDEW, said "all parties involved need to have a clear road map of their rights and obligations in the event of a supply disruption."
Uniper, Germany's largest importer of Russian natural gas, said that the country needed to be prepared "for an escalation that no one can currently rule out."
The national association for the gas and oil industry, BVEG, said domestic energy production could make a contribution to becoming independent of Russian fossil fuels.
"Our goal is to maintain production at the current level and ideally even expand it slightly," said BVEG boss Ludwig Möhring.
Natural gas production in Germany has been declining in recent years, and now contributes just 5% of total consumption. The same applies to oil production, where Russian imports made up some 34% of total imports in 2021.
