Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann wants to have fun and indoor pools closed if necessary in the event of a gas shortage in autumn. Before the gas summit next Monday, the state government is examining "whether we can intervene and, if necessary, have to intervene," said the Greens politician on Tuesday in Stuttgart. This is actually a matter for the municipalities, but at the summit one also wants to talk about the swimming pools with the town and municipality day. In principle, however, the country has hardly any powers to intervene in an energy crisis, and the Federal Network Agency is in demand here.
Kretschmann relies on "swarm intelligence" at the meeting with business, municipalities, utilities and trade on Monday to collect ideas for saving energy. "That's the means we have, you shouldn't underestimate that," warned Kretschmann. If everyone turned down their heating by one degree in autumn and winter, that would already save a lot of energy. "Even if some make fun of it, that's appropriate." You have to discuss with the trade what has priority in times of a shortage of skilled workers. From his point of view, the first thing to do is to optimize heating systems on a massive scale instead of replacing them entirely, because that takes a long time and ties up a lot of manpower.
When asked whether the three nuclear power plants should run longer, the Greens' head of government was open to a new review that Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) had announced. For example, Germany could have problems starting up the coal-fired power plants because the ships could not deliver the coal due to low water. "That's why it makes sense for him to do another stress test and fact check," said Kretschmann, referring to Habeck. In Baden-Württemberg, only Neckarwestheim 2 is still connected to the grid and is supposed to be switched off at the end of the year.
