“Gas Safety Platform”: Federal Network Agency launches company survey

Germany activated the gas emergency plan at the end of March. As part of this, the Federal Network Agency is preparing a gas security platform. To this end, a query will start today with the largest gas consumers.

Very important: Nobody needs to worry about the gas supply at the moment, says the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. At this point in time, stopping Russian gas imports would not have any immediate consequences because there are other sources and there is still some gas in storage. But, according to the head of the authorities: “We would then draw on the reserves and would not have enough gas for the next winter.”

Most precise consideration of the supply chains

The Federal Network Agency is therefore preparing for the event of a gas shortage and is setting up a platform that will regulate the gas supply in an emergency. From today on, data will be requested from the 2,500 largest gas consumers. This is to determine who gets how much gas in an emergency. Netzagentur boss Müller calls this a comprehensive procedure. “We have to take regional needs into account: what applies in the north, south, east, west of Germany?” he explains the procedure.

“Gas isn’t immediately readily available. We have to assess where we’re missing it in the supply chain. If you manufacture medical devices, you need packaging, you need glass in order to be able to transport it hygienically.” You have to be able to assess all of this in the event of a gas emergency, which everyone hopes will never occur, says Müller.

“The European legal situation is clear”

Most recently there was a debate as to whether industry should not be given priority over private households. Müller considers this unrealistic, because the gas supply is regulated at European level. It says: first private households, then industry. “The European legal situation is clear,” said the head of the authority. “I don’t think anyone will change it at the moment. That’s why such a discussion is useless. It just unsettles everyone. That’s why it’s not helpful.”

The federal government’s plan: Liquid gas – LNG for short – is intended to reduce dependency. Two floating LNG terminals should be able to land in Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbüttel by the end of the year. But not only the terminals are important, explains Müller, but also their connection to the network via pipeline.

“It is crucial for floating liquid gas terminals that can still be connected on land. They have to be able to transport the gas, which then becomes gaseous again.” A few kilometers were missing here, says Müller. “At the moment, a lot of people – the federal states, the gas network operators, the Federal Network Agency, the supervisory authorities – are making it possible this year so that we can benefit from it this winter.”

Memory can be filled at different speeds

The liquid gas should also be used to fill up the gas storage tanks. The filling level of the largest German storage facility is currently less than 0.5 percent – and the time to get this full by winter is running out, because even if it were possible to get enough gas: because filling up takes time. “It depends very much on the gas storage facility,” explains Müller. “They have tavern storage facilities that can be filled quickly. But they have pore storage facilities, and the largest German storage facility is one of these pore storage facilities. You need about four months to fill it up, for technical and physical reasons alone .”

The Federal Network Agency’s survey of large gas consumers will run until mid-May. The safety platform, which regulates the gas supply in an emergency, should be in place by October. But everyone still hopes that it will never come to that.