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Europe's largest buyers of Russian gas are scrambling to find alternative fuel supplies and may increase coal use in response to a potential winter energy crisis triggered by curtailed gas flows in Russia. Germany, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have shown that coal-fired power can help Europe through the current difficulties.

The Dutch government announced on Monday (June 20) that it will lift production caps for coal-fired power plants and will launch the first phase of its energy crisis response plan. Denmark has also launched the first phase of its emergency gas plan due to uncertainties in Russian gas supplies. Gazprom notified Italian oil group Eni that gas flows on Monday would be less than what it requested. Italian authorities are now closer to declaring a state of energy alert.

Germany, which is also facing a reduction in Russia's natural gas supply, recently announced that it will increase the level of energy storage, and said it may restart coal-fired power generation that was originally planned to be phased out. "It was a painful decision, but under the current circumstances, reducing gas consumption is absolutely necessary," said German Economy Minister Habeck.