Austria’s government wants to tap into a gas storage facility connected to the German grid this year. It is about the Haidach gas storage facility near Salzburg, which is one of the largest in Central Europe.
“We have decided that all gas storage facilities on Austrian territory must be connected to our network,” said Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s climate protection and energy minister, to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Austria wants to tap gas storage in Haidach – this year?
The Haidach gas storage facility was previously only connected to the German grid and mainly supplied Bavaria’s households and industrial companies with gas. Unused gas has been fed back into the Austrian grid via a detour – but now Haidach is to be connected directly to the domestic gas grid.
The minister stressed that this decision was final. Gewessler expects that the first connection in Haidach to the Austrian gas network will take place this year. “The storage facilities are our central safety buffer for the winter,” she emphasized. They are currently 50 percent full.
Aiwanger reacts calmly
Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger reacted calmly to Austria’s announcement. “It is important that the memory is finally filled quickly,” said the Free Voters boss to BR when asked.
According to Aiwanger, it is understandable that Austria also wants to have access to the storage facility. “But we’re all in the same boat across Europe when it comes to gas supply and we have to support each other,” appealed the Bavarian Economics Minister to the neighboring country.
Bayern has been under pressure for some time
Prime Minister Markus Söder has been calling for all gas storage facilities relevant to Bavaria to be filled for some time. For the storage facility in Haidach, Austria, the necessary agreement with Austria must be concluded “as soon as possible,” he demanded from the federal government at the beginning of July.
The Haidach storage facility is a joint project between the Austrian RAG, Gazprom and the German gas trading company Wingas. Around 2.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas can be stored in the Haidach storage facility, making it the second largest storage facility in Central Europe. According to Matthias Jenn, Managing Director of the gas network operator bayernets, it is questionable whether there will still be enough time to bring the Haidach storage facility to the prescribed 90 percent level by November.
Austria heavily dependent on Russian energy imports
Austria’s Chancellor Karl Nehammer recently emphasized with regard to Haidach: “We as the Republic of Austria will also use this storage facility in the future.” Since Gazprom is still not filling it, it should be withdrawn from the operators and made available to others
Austria is also highly dependent on Russian energy imports and is therefore, like Germany, under a great deal of pressure due to the lack of gas supplies. In view of the curtailed Russian gas supplies, Austria had already decided in June to reactivate a coal-fired power plant that had been shut down. Imports via terminals for landing liquid gas on the German coast are also being considered.
With material from dpa and Reuters.