Before the start of the heating season, German gas storage facilities are almost full. This means that the storage goal was reached ahead of schedule. The Federal Network Agency still speaks of “residual risks”.
The natural gas storage facilities in Germany have reached the 95 percent fill level ahead of schedule. According to preliminary data from the European gas storage association GIE, they were 95.05 percent full on Tuesday morning. A regulation introduced last year during the gas crisis stipulates that the storage facilities should be 95 percent full by November 1st.
This means that the gas storage facilities have been filled faster this year than a year ago. On the morning of September 26, 2022, the level was 91.4 percent. The 95 percent mark was reached on October 13 last year.
The storage systems compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. The last time the storage tanks were 100 percent full was on the morning of November 14, 2022. The filling levels usually decrease in winter and increase again after the end of the heating season. According to previous information from the federal government, the amount of natural gas stored in the storage facilities at 100 percent level corresponds to the consumption of two to three average cold winter months.
95 percent mark exceeded across the EU
The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, which was controlled by the Russian state-owned company Gazprom until the beginning of April 2022, recorded a fill level of 97.42 percent on Tuesday morning. The 95 percent mark was also exceeded across the EU. According to the GIE, the level was 95.08 percent on Tuesday morning.
“The starting position for the winter of 2023/24 is significantly better than a year ago, but residual risks remain,” the Federal Network Agency wrote in its gas situation report last week. Economical gas consumption remains important.
According to the Federal Network Agency, Germany received natural gas from Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands last Monday. There were also deliveries by ship via the new LNG terminals on the German coast. Smaller quantities came from Austria and Switzerland. Natural gas from Russia last came to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline on August 30, 2022.
Source: Stern
