Germany's utility giant Uniper said it will restart a coal-fired power plant after Russia stopped gas to the country.
The Dsseldorf-based company, which is Europe's biggest buyer of Russian gas, will start generating power from Monday. Electricity will probably last until the end of April.
Uniper's switch to coal, after ending operations in 2020 as past of its decarbonisation plan, highlights what one analyst has called a "scary" energy shortage in Europe.
In a surprise move Friday, Russia's state-run energy giant said it would stop the flow of gas to Germany for three days. The flows have been cut in half.
The European energy crisis has left several regional leaders fearful about winter, and some officials have accused Moscow of weaponizing energy in response to Western sanctions.
European prices of natural gas soared almost 20% to fresh record highs after the news of the Nord Stream 1 pause.
The move to revive Heyden 4 was spurred by a German law. The law requires a switch to coal power plants to generate electricity.
"It appears that demand destruction remains the most obvious but painful cure right now, along with a longer-term focus on ensuring a broad based supply of energy from coal, gas, nuclear, solar, hydrogen, and more," the analysts said.
If the law is extended, the plant could continue to produce electricity for another year.
There are limitations on the rail transportation capacity of hard coal to the site which might get lifted once additional transportation capacity becomes available.
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