BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The head of energy group Eon, Leonhard Birnbaum, does not see the energy crisis as over yet. 2023 will also be a crisis year, Birnbaum told journalists in Berlin on Tuesday. Thanks mainly to the warm weather for the time of year, he said, there is currently a comparatively low demand for gas and an enormously high level of storage. A lot would have to happen for Germany to still have a supply problem this winter.

For the winter of 2023/2024, however, no all-clear can be given, Birnbaum said. Much more actually needs to be saved in terms of volumes, he said. The industry has saved around 20 percent of gas - also by cutting back production, he said. This does not go well for long, but endangers jobs in the long run, Birnbaum said. He called private households the "Achilles' heel". These have saved only ten percent so far, he said. "That is not enough. We can't count on another warm winter to help us."

In addition, sources of supply for gas would have to be diversified as quickly as possible in order to secure supplies. If, for example, the economy in China picks up, it will become much more difficult for Germany to obtain liquefied natural gas on the world market at an affordable price.

Eon supplies around 14 million private and business customers in Germany. These include around 1.5 million gas customers. Alongside energy sales, the operation of distribution networks is the other major pillar of the Group's core business./hoe/DP/men