The German gas storage facilities are already better filled than in the summer of 2022. Nevertheless, the Federal Network Agency warns of possible residual risks for the energy supply in winter and wants to call for savings again.
Despite well-stocked gas storage facilities, the Federal Network Agency does not want to give the all-clear for the energy supply in the coming winter. The authority still sees “residual risks” for a gas shortage and therefore wants to call for savings again. After the loss of Russian gas, there are stable other sources of supply. “It would still be premature to give the all-clear,” said Klaus Müller, President of the Authority, to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.
Müller counted a cold winter in Europe among the “residual risks”. In addition, Russian President Vladimir Putin could also turn off the gas tap for Southeast Europe. “At the end of the day, attacks on pipelines remain a horror scenario,” he continued to warn.
The German gas storage facilities are currently about 90 percent full – and thus significantly fuller than in the summer of last year. Industry and households have also reduced their consumption and less gas has to be sent to other countries. Nevertheless, he will “call again for saving and careful use of gas when the heating season approaches”.
economy Grimm warns to save
The economist Veronika Grimm also warned the citizens to heat sparingly again next winter. “It can definitely get tight again with the gas supply – despite the liquid gas terminals that we have built,” said the member of the Economic Advisory Council to the newspapers of the Funke media group. What applied to last winter also applies to this winter. “And one can hope that things will go smoothly again.” Ideally, the population would be “sensitized in a similar way to last year – and then heat more sparingly”.
The gas storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. In winter, the filling levels usually decrease, after the end of the heating period they increase again. According to earlier information from the Federal Government, the amount of natural gas stored in the reservoirs at 100 percent level corresponds to the consumption of two to three average cold winter months.