STOCKHOLM, June 21, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Denmark's energy agency declared a first
level "early warning" alert over worries of its gas supply, due to
uncertainty on energy imports from Russia because of the ongoing war in
Ukraine.

The European Union has established a system to allow member states to flag up
impending energy supply difficulties using three ascending levels of alerts -
- beginning with "early warning", followed by "alert", then "emergency".

The system allows for mutual assistance from other EU countries, but could
also mean a start to rationing supplies.

On Monday, the deputy director of the Danish Energy Agency, Martin Hansen,
issued the first level warning.

"This is a serious situation we are facing and it has been exacerbated by the
reduction in supplies," Hansen said in a statement.

Currently Denmark's gas stocks are about 75 percent full, "and gas has been
added in recent days", the agency said in a statement.

The declaration comes after Danish energy company Orsted announced at the end
of May that delivery of Russian gas to the Scandinavian country would be
suspended from June 1, after Orsted refused to settle the payment in rubles.

Gas represents 18 percent of the energy consumed each year in Denmark.
Domestic production accounted for three-quarters of the gas consumed in 2019.

Russia is one of the main sources of natural gas imports, according to the
Danish Energy Agency.

The Netherlands also announced Monday it will lift restrictions on coal-fired
power generation, a day after Germany and Austria took similar steps to
alleviate their reliance on Russian gas supplies.