Gas storage facilities in Germany are again at 75% three months earlier than legally required. This means filling levels are much higher than at the same time a year ago – also thanks to a fairly mild winter.
Gas storage facilities in Germany have reached their first storage target of 75% fill level for the upcoming heating period – three months ahead of schedule. On the morning of June 1, they were estimated to be 74.97% full, according to today’s information from GIE, the European gas storage association.
The brand was introduced in a new gas storage decree during last summer’s gas crisis as an interim target until Sept. 1. The storage should be 85% full by October 1st and 95% by November 1st.
Significantly higher than last year
Fill levels have increased daily since May 4th. The lowest fill level so far this year was 63.58% on March 17. However, this figure is high compared to the previous year. On March 17, 2022, the utilization rate of storage facilities in Germany was only 24.56%. Just a year ago, the fill level was 49%, well below current levels.
Germany’s largest storage facility in Leiden, Lower Saxony, controlled by Russian state company Gazprom until early April 2022, was 88% filled yesterday morning. EU-wide fill levels are close to 69%.
Buffer for natural gas market
Storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption, thus forming a market buffer system. On the morning of November 14, the filling level in Germany reached 100%. In winter, the fill level usually decreases due to temperature. From late March/early April onwards, there are usually more deposits than withdrawals.
In its current assessment of the situation, the Federal Network Agency described the current gas supply in Germany as “stable”. Supply security is guaranteed. Still, preparing for the coming winter remains a key challenge, and economical gas consumption remains important. According to the information, in the 21st calendar week, it was 23% lower than the average consumption from 2018 to 2021.
mild temperature advantage
The head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, has defended the federal government’s national gas procurement strategy amid the energy crisis. “We were right last summer to act quickly and do what we could to top up the gas tanks for the winter,” Müller said today. Experts believe state action will have limited impact on markets and swift action is needed to ensure security of supply. “We survived the winter also because of the relatively mild temperatures,” says Müller.
Due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and the gradual failure of Russian gas supplies, the federal government has made filling gas storage tanks a legal requirement and has purchased large quantities of gas itself through the European Trade Center (THE) company. The procurement program totals nearly 1 billion cubic metres, and THE has secured a EUR 15 billion line of credit.
No need for new government procurement for now?
The plan has also been criticized. The need for costly state gas procurement has been called into question. There are also allegations that THE bought gas at very high prices during the crisis, which was further driven up by government demand.
For now, it does not appear that state intervention will be needed to fill the tanks this year, Müller said. “Nevertheless, if storage is initiated by the state, there will be further optimization options today in terms of handling storage volumes.”