Assessment of the energy association: The gas reserves could be sufficient

If Russia does not continue to throttle deliveries, a gas bottleneck in Germany could be avoided, says Gasverbandschef Möhring. The currently delivered quantity could be enough in a mild winter.

The Federal Association for Natural Gas, Oil and Geoenergy (BVEG) does not expect any further Russian restrictions with no gas bottlenecks in the coming winter. According to the Federal Association for Natural Gas, Oil and Geoenergy (BVEG), German gas reserves are sufficient for the coming winter. The prerequisite for this, however, is that the Russian deliveries continue to be maintained.

“If the supply situation, including Russian deliveries, remains as it is, we will be able to have the gas storage tanks filled as planned under normal weather conditions and the implementation of the savings efforts,” BVEG Managing Director Ludwig Möhring told the “Bild” newspaper.

Save gas as planned

Although Russia is delivering considerably less than before, the quantity currently delivered could still be sufficient in a mild winter, says Möhring. Nevertheless, gas had to be saved as planned.

A spokesman for the Federal Network Agency told the “Bild” newspaper that the German gas supply could not be guaranteed from the storage facilities alone in winter: “In an average winter, one can very roughly assume that the quantities from the storage facilities will last for around two and a half months.”

First save goal reached

Despite the fact that Russian deliveries have been sharply reduced for weeks, the first storage target for German gas storage facilities has already been achieved. The filling level was 75.43 percent on Friday morning, according to data from European gas storage operators.

The federal government had stipulated by regulation that the German gas storage facilities should be at least 75 percent full by September 1st. On October 1st it should be 85 percent and on November 1st 95 percent. At the current pace, the targets can probably be achieved.

For more than two weeks, the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1, which is supplied by Russia, has only been at 20 percent capacity. The Russian company Gazprom refers to technical reasons. The federal government considers this to be a pretext.

Target in November could still be missed

The managing director of the Ines storage association, Sebastian Bleschke, emphasized that it was only an interim goal: “In essence, it is about achieving 95 percent on November 1st.”

If there are normal temperatures in October, the beginning of the heating season will have a strong impact on the possibility of storing gas. On particularly cold days, gas extraction can be so high that the feed-in does not cover demand, says Bleschke. It is possible that the target will be missed in November.