One of Russia’s Last Big EU Gas Consumers Turns Off the Tap

(Bloomberg) -- The top utility in Vienna — the world’s most-livable city — finally kicked its Russian natural gas habit. 

Wien Energie GmbH, which provides energy to two million people in and around the Austrian capital, said it won’t need Russian fuel as of next year for the first time in decades. It’s sourced 10 terawatt-hours of alternatives, equivalent to about 12% of national consumption, from North Africa, the North Sea and other global liquefied natural gas suppliers. 

“Because of Russia’s war of aggression, independence from Russian gas is critical for security of supply,” said Vienna’s finance chief Peter Hanke at a press conference Friday. “All households, commercial customers and power plants will be running on non-Russian gas in 2025.”

The announcement may help to alleviate pressure on gas markets, with traders preparing for Russian gas flows via Ukraine to stop from January. Austria got well over half of its supply from that route during the first half of the year. 

While Wien Energie will continue to procure supplies via the Central European Gas Hub, in the future it will require traders to certify that fuel flowing into the city isn’t from Russia. The company will use certificates of origin that it said are forgery-proof and based on blockchain technology.

The utility also pledged not to raise prices on end users, even as the alternative cargoes cost slightly more than Russian gas, Chief Executive Officer Michael Strebl said.

Austria has maintained one of Europe’s oldest and deepest connections to Russian energy, and in 2018 extended a long-term gas contract to 2040. State-owned OMV AG, the country’s biggest fossil-fuel company, grew out of Austria’s post-World War II independence treaty that handed over Soviet-controlled energy assets in return for the nation’s neutrality.

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