European Union countries are expected to face five to 10 terrible winters should not be done to reduce natural gas prices, Belgium's Energy Minister has said.
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Minister Tinne Van der Straeten in a Twitter post wrote "The next five to 10 winters will be terrible if we don't do anything."
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She therefore added that "We must act at source, at European level, and work to freeze gas prices."
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Calls are mounting for an EU-wide cap on the price of gas and its decoupling from the price of electricity.
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EU states have been struggling with huge energy price hikes since key gas supplier Russia invaded Ukraine in February, triggering sanctions.
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Russia, which supplied the EU with 40% of its gas last year, has in turn restricted supplies.
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Electricity prices have also been soaring and have reached record highs this week.
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"We have to stop this madness that is happening right now on energy markets," Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer said.
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Electricity prices must go down, he said, calling on the EU to decouple electricity and gas prices.
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"We cannot let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin determine the European electricity price every day," he added.
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Natural gas is still widely used to generate electricity. Because gas prices have risen, this costs more.
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Significantly, this price is used when buying electricity wholesale even when it comes from much cheaper renewable resources.
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Germany - the largest importer of Russian gas in 2020 - has been racing to bolster its gas reserves before winter despite Russia cutting deliveries.
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Its aim is to fill its gas capacity to 85% by October. It has implemented energy-saving measures to do so.
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Economy Minister Robert Habeck said such measures - along with buying gas from alternative suppliers - had enabled Germany to fulfil its goal sooner than anticipated.
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He estimated that the 85% target could be reached by the start of September.
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