Even a few weeks before the end of the heating period, gas is still being saved in Germany. Meanwhile, the gas storage tanks are still full. A year ago things were very different.
Despite cooler temperatures than in previous years, gas was saved in Germany last week. In the ninth calendar week, gas consumption was 7.7 percent below the average consumption for the years 2018 to 2021, the Federal Network Agency announced today. Temperatures were 1.6 degrees below the average for the reference period. Adjusted for temperature, consumption was 12.8 percent below the reference value.
According to Network Agency President Klaus Müller, the industry saved around 9 percent. Households and businesses consumed around 6 percent less. Müller recalled the purpose of the whole thing: “Every saving is easy on the wallet, helps the climate & supports the filling of gas storage tanks for the winter of 23/24,” he wrote in a tweet.
tweet
The cool temperatures in the German gas storage facilities continue to cause filling levels to drop – as is usual in winter. On Wednesday morning, the total fill level was 66.1 percent. That was almost 0.7 percentage points less than the previous day, according to data from the European gas storage association GIE on Thursday. For comparison: Exactly one year earlier, the filling level was 25.4 percent.
The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, was 83.7 percent full on Wednesday morning. Throughout the EU, the fill level was around 57.8 percent. That was 0.8 percentage points less than the day before.
Constant gas flow
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. On the morning of November 14, a fill level of 100 percent was recorded.
It should be noted that in addition to gas withdrawal from the storage facilities, gas continues to flow to Germany through pipeline imports. According to the Federal Network Agency, Germany received natural gas from Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium on Tuesday. Gas now also flows into the German transmission network via new LNG terminals on the German coast.
Source: Stern
