Germany to turn down the heating this winter

The German government has approved a set of energy-saving measures for the winter which will limit the use of lighting and heating in public buildings.

The government aims to reduce gas usage by 2% through the new rules.

Germany's economy minster said the rules could save private households, companies and the public sector around €10.8bn (£9.1bn) over two years.

It is part of efforts to reduce the country's dependency on Russian gas.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, Germany got 55% of its gas from Russia but its has reduced this to 35% and vowed to end imports completely.

However, Germany remains a huge market for Moscow and paid almost €9bn (£7.7bn; $9.6bn) for Russian oil and gas in the first two months of the war.

Russia has also reduced flows of gas through the key Nordstream 1 pipeline to Germany to 20% of capacity, stoking fears it may turn off the taps this winter.

Germany's Economy Minister Robert Habeck told reporters on Wednesday: "Overall the [new] measures save energy. However, not to the extent that we can sit back and say, 'That'll do now.'"

Starting from September, public buildings apart from institutions like hospitals, are to be heated to a maximum of 19C and the heating may be turned of completely in entrances, corridors and foyers.

Public monuments and buildings will also not be lit up for aesthetic reasons and businesses could be banned from keeping their shops illuminated at night.

Under the measures, private swimming pool heating could also be banned.

Amid concerns about winter shortages, Germany is setting up two liquefied natural gas terminals on its North Sea coast to improve capacity for gas storage.

Separately, Switzerland's energy minister has said it would "certainly make sense" for the country to align with a European Union plan to voluntarily cut gas use by 15% this winter, in order to prevent an energy shortage.

Switzerland's electricity commission has recommended that households should stock up on candles in case of blackouts in the winter caused by changes in Russian supplies.

Earlier this month Swiss energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga also said she would try to enact a plan to have the heating turned down in public buildings.