Status: 07/27/2022 1:49 p.m
The natural gas storage operators estimate that a filling level of 90 percent can be reached by winter – if the inflow via Nord Stream 1 is not completely eliminated. Politicians should continue to work on savings.
The German natural gas storage operators assume that gas can continue to be stored despite the renewed reduction in supply volumes from Russia. If LNG imports continue to be high, it is very likely that a filling level of over 90 percent can be reached by November 1st, said the managing director of the Initiative Energies Storage (INES) industry association, Sebastian Bleschke, of the dpa news agency.
The calculation is based on the assumption that gas transport through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline will only be at 20 percent of maximum capacity from Wednesday onwards. If this gas were to fall away as well, the situation would have to be further evaluated, said Bleschke.
The current fill level is 66.8 percent
In this context, he pointed out that the gas flows via Nord Stream 1 have already been reduced to such an extent that they are less important when it comes to storage.
Norway is currently the second largest gas supplier in Germany with 20 percent. The Netherlands follow with eleven percent. German gas production only contributes five percent to gas consumption. Liquefied natural gas is gaining importance in gas supply. So far, Germany has mainly purchased LNG from the USA.
“Despite reduced gas flows on Nord Stream 1, a significant amount has been stored in recent days,” says Bleschke. On Monday, the German storage was 66.8 percent full, more recent data is not available. The federal government wants to stipulate in a regulation that the German storage tanks must be 95 percent full by November 1st.
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a kind of buffer system for the gas market. They are usually well filled when the heating season begins in autumn. On cold winter days, up to 60 percent of gas consumption in Germany is covered by German storage facilities.
According to Bleschke, even with a filling level of over 90 percent and with gas flows throttled to 20 percent via Nord Stream 1, shortages must be expected in a normal winter. “The system will then only be able to balance itself out by reducing demand.”
Politicians should therefore continue to work on reducing demand. “The planned auctions to reduce industrial customer consumption are certainly a very important step.”
At the auctions, industrial gas consumers should be able to sell gas they do not need via a platform from the start of the heating period. The gas volumes are intended to help stabilize the grid.