Germany's population must save at least 20% of its energy consumption to avoid gas shortages by December this year due to a drop in Russian gas flows, the head of Germany's grid regulator Klaus Mueller said.

In July, Russian energy giant Gazprom drastically cut gas flows to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to just 20% of capacity, increasing pressure on Europe's biggest economy to conserve gas for the winter.

Mueller said Germany should also cut its gas exports to neighboring countries by 20% and import 10 to 15 gigawatt hours (Gwh) of gas to avoid a shortage of the blue fuel.

"If we don't save a lot and get extra fuel, we will have a problem," Mueller said in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper published over the weekend.

Last month, Germany raised its gas storage targets to 75% by September 1, to 85% by October 1 and to 95% by November 1, and introduced energy-saving measures.

According to the government's emergency plan for gas shortages, German households will be given priority in the event of a gas supply crisis, but Mueller said the prioritization does not mean that households can overheat in this situation.

"In order to secure jobs, I think austerity measures for private households are legitimate," Mueller added.

According to him, providing gas through fracking in Germany, as some regional politicians insist, will not solve the problem of gas shortages in the next two winters, in which Berlin will still be dependent on the Russian blue fuel.

But Mueller declined to say whether extending the lives of Germany's remaining nuclear power plants was possible, citing the expected results of a stress test the government is conducting to answer that question.

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