Before the heating season starts, the gas storage tanks should be as full as possible given the lack of deliveries from Russia at the beginning of the heating season. A first milestone has now been reached earlier than planned. In addition, experts bring fracking back into the conversation.
Isn’t everything going to be as bad as feared? Despite the supply volumes from Russia, which have been significantly reduced for weeks, the German gas storage facilities are more than 75 percent full again. According to the latest preliminary data from European gas storage operators, the level is currently 75.43 percent. The first storage target was thus achieved more than two weeks ahead of schedule. Due to the usual delay in reporting, this is as of Friday morning.
“We reached the first interim goal ahead of time. That’s gratifying,” said the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. “Now it’s important not to slow down when filling the storage tanks. The gas that is now flowing into the storage tanks can help us in winter.” However, according to Müller, the next goals are ambitious.
The current regulation stipulates that the German storage facilities must be at least 75 percent full by September 1st. On October 1st it should be at least 85 percent and on November 1st at least 95 percent. The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption among themselves and thus form a kind of buffer system for the gas market.
Gas storage: Be prepared for total failure
The federal government wants to use various measures to ensure that the gas storage facilities in Germany are almost full at the beginning of the heating period. Germany should thus be better armed against a total failure of Russian deliveries in winter. The amount of gas stored at a level of 95 percent corresponds approximately to the nationwide consumption in January and February 2022.
The filling level on Friday morning was about 0.58 percentage points above the previous day’s value. According to the Ines storage association, the currently high levels of storage are made possible primarily by low summer consumption and strong imports from north-west Europe. According to the Federal Network Agency, gas consumption in Germany up to and including July was almost 14 percent below that of the same period last year. According to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW), the main reasons for this are the mild weather and the high level of gas prices.
Storage association: Good perspective, spring 2023 critical
Russia is still pumping natural gas to Germany. For more than two weeks, however, the important Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 has only been utilized at around 20 percent. The Russian gas company blames technical reasons for this, the federal government considers this to be a pretense.
The managing director of the Ines storage association, Sebastian Bleschke, spoke of a “good perspective”, but emphasized that 75 percent was only an interim goal. “In essence, it’s about achieving 95 percent on November 1,” he told the German Press Agency. With normal temperatures in October, the beginning of the heating season will have a strong impact on storage options. Due to the greatly reduced gas imports, it is therefore possible that this level target will be missed.
With normal temperatures and the reduced gas supplies via Nord Stream 1, the stored gas could be used up as early as March or April, Bleschke warned. “Should Russia stop gas supplies altogether, sooner.” However, according to the association, shortfalls can also occur before March. “Because it can happen that on particularly cold days, the gas withdrawal from the network is so high that the simultaneous gas feeds are not sufficient to cover demand.” In these cases, according to Bleschke, demand would have to be reduced even though there is still gas in storage.
Experts: Fracking ban without factual basis
The storage tanks could also be filled with gas obtained from fracking in Germany. The technology has so far been banned in this country; partly because it is considered too risky in densely populated areas. In the debate about the use, however, the proponents are now getting tailwind from an expert commission set up by the federal government on the subject.
The deputy chairman of the expert commission, Holger Weiß, questions the ban on natural gas production through fracking. “There is no factual basis for this,” he told the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper”. The liquid now used in fracking is no longer poison, “it’s dishwashing liquid”. Weiss: “Nowadays you can do fracking with an acceptable residual risk.”
Fracking uses pressure and chemicals to extract gas or oil from rock layers, which poses environmental hazards. In 2016, the then grand coalition decided that the method would remain taboo in Germany, but test drilling should be allowed. However, the debate about the use of fracking gas has recently intensified again due to the gas shortage resulting from the Ukraine war. Geologist Christoph Hilgers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology told the newspaper: “If you do fracking properly, the risk is low. It’s an established technology.”
Source: Stern
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