Deputy of the Landtag of the federal state of Hesse Andreas Lichert on Thursday, December 16, in an interview with Izvestia, assessed the data that the occupancy of gas storage facilities in the country had reached a historically low level.
“Both geopolitics and simple market processes play a role in both high gas prices and low gas storage volumes. When gas prices rose sharply in the summer, of course, no one wanted to fill the storage facilities with expensive gas and risk incurring losses in the winter. In fact, recently prices have dropped sharply again, but due to high demand in winter, of course, it is now becoming more difficult to fill storage tanks. These are normal market processes, ”he explained.
Earlier that day, Sebastian Bleschke, executive director of the German Association of Underground Gas Storage Operators (INES), said that the occupancy of gas storage facilities in Germany had dropped to 59%. It was pointed out that today this is a “historically low” level compared to previous years.
To prevent power outages, Trading Hub Europe GmbH announced a special tender for the purchase of natural gas in February, according to the Handelsblatt newspaper. Applications for participation will close on Friday. The special tender is a market mechanism for securing gas supplies.
According to Bleschke, given the current market situation, gas purchases will be “definitely a challenge.” At the same time, the German Economy Ministry, as the newspaper points out, called this tender an ordinary process.
In addition, the media reported that the German Federal Grid Agency has postponed until about the middle of next year the adoption of a decision on certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
On November 16, the German regulator suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent operator of Nord Stream 2. The procedure can be continued when a subsidiary company for the German part of the pipeline is created in Germany. The company has promised to establish such a subsidiary in Germany to ensure compliance with rules and regulations. The Ministry of Energy of Germany called the suspension of certification a regulatory issue and an intermediate stage in this procedure, adding that this will not affect the country’s energy supply.
The construction of the gas pipeline was completed on September 10. It was built from Russia to Germany along the Baltic seabed with the aim of direct gas supplies to Europe. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The Baltic states, Poland, the USA and Ukraine are opposed.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
