"We will change course to overcome dependence on imports from individual energy suppliers… The sooner we build the renewable energy infrastructure, the better. We are on the right track, we want to and will become the first industrial climate-neutral country by 2045," Scholz told the Bundestag.
Germany will build gas reserves, he noted.
"Finally, we have decided to promptly build terminals for receiving liquefied natural gas in Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven," the chancellor said.
He warned that prices for consumers could rise, but assured that the government will be taking necessary measures to support citizens.
On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he had instructed the country's ministry of economy to take a "necessary administrative step" to suspend the certification of Nord Stream 2 pipeline operator, meaning withdrawal of the ministry's energy security report on Nord Stream 2 from the agency. The document served as a basis for the German regulator – the Federal Network Agency to conduct the certification process of the project. The certification process has been frozen on Tuesday.
Moscow has repeatedly called on Western nations to stop politicizing Nord Stream 2, which was completed on 10 September, saying that it is a commercial project beneficial to both Russia and the European Union.
Nord Stream 2 is designed to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea.