German Economy and Climate Minister, Robert Habeck, said that "we will reduce gas consumption in the electricity sector and industry and push the filling of storage facilities. Depending on the situation, we will take further measures."

"Security of supply is currently guaranteed, but the situation is serious," he added.

According to Politico, the announcement made by the German official comes as Russia announced that it will cut gas supplies to France and Italy.

In order to prepare itself for a similar scenario, Germany plans to reduce the amounts of natural gas it uses, by relying on coal power for things like electricity production.

"That means, to be honest, more coal-fired power plants for a transitional period. That's bitter, but it's almost necessary in this situation to reduce gas consumption", Habeck says.

A "gas auction model" has been proposed as another measure, as it should encourage industries to reduce their usage of gas. The measure, set to go in effect this summer, implies rewarding companies that reduce their gas usage during bottleneck situations.

Russian energy company Gazprom announced that it reduced the gas supplies that go through the Nord Stream pipeline to 67 million cubic meters per day from 167 million cubic meters.