Gas crisis warning issued in Denmark

Denmark is facing a natural gas supply crisis that could lead to a rise in domestic production costs and the closure of dozens of companies, Troels Ranis, industry director at the Confederation of Danish Industry, warned on Thursday.

“Make no mistake, we are in a very serious situation and we could face a real gas supply crisis. And that means businesses that aren’t protected are at risk of being shut down entirely, and that can be expensive.” Ranis told Danish broadcaster DR.

He referred to so-called “unprotected companies”, to which the gas supply would be interrupted in the event of an emergency in the Danish gas network. According to the country’s Energy Agency, about 50 companies are on the list for the 2022-2023 gas year.

“Gas prices are rising significantly again, making production much more expensive for Danish companies, and ultimately the goods are more expensive – for the Danes too,” Ranis added.

The comments follow last week’s surge in European natural gas prices after Russia’s Gazprom cut supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline by 60%. The company blamed the drop on German equipment supplier Siemens Energy, which failed to return gas pump units to a compressor station on time. Germany criticized the decision as political.

Deliveries to Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, the Danish company Orsted and the Dutch company GasTerra have already stopped because they refused to pay for gas in rubles.

According to DR, Denmark is not yet running out of gas with a storage level of around 70%. However, last week it was reported that rising energy costs have forced some EU nations to draw on their gas reserves, causing the bloc’s inventories to fall for the first time in two months.