The gas bills of German consumers have already risen sharply in the first half of 2022 – albeit less than that of many European neighbors.
Compared to the same period last year, German households paid almost a quarter more for their gas, as the statistics office Eurostat announced today in Luxembourg. On average, the prices for 100 kilowatt hours in the EU rose by more than a third to 8.61 euros.
In Estonia, prices rose by a factor of two and a half, the most in the EU. Consumers in Lithuania and Bulgaria also had to pay significantly more for natural gas. According to Eurostat, the main driver was the Russian war in Ukraine. In Hungary, on the other hand, the price fell slightly, which was due to state intervention. Gas also remained comparatively cheap in Croatia and Portugal, with price increases of up to ten percent.
Northern Europe tops the list
In absolute terms, gas was most expensive in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. This was in contrast to Hungary, Croatia and Latvia with the cheapest gas bills. Because no figures were available for Cyprus, Malta and Finland, they were not included in the calculation.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine at the end of February, the price of European natural gas skyrocketed. The Dutch futures contract TTF, which is considered the benchmark for gas trading, rose in price to up to 345 euros per megawatt hour in the weeks that followed. In previous years, price levels well below 50 euros were the norm. The situation on the market has recently calmed down and the price is around 100 euros per megawatt hour.
Gas volume in German storage facilities reaches record levels
There is more natural gas stored in German gas storage facilities than ever before. This emerges from data published on the Internet by European gas storage operators. According to this, the amount stored on October 24, at 239.64 terawatt hours, exceeded the previous maximum value of November 10, 2019, when 239.62 terawatt hours of energy content were registered.
In the meantime, the value has risen to 241.62 terawatt hours (provisional as of October 29). For comparison: In January and February 2022, according to the Federal Network Agency, a total of almost 227 terawatt hours of natural gas were consumed in Germany.
The German storage facilities are 98.52 percent full. The percentage all-time high has not been reached: On October 27, 2019, according to the Association of German Storage Operators, they were 99.66 percent full. According to the storage association GIE, the filling level of all storage facilities in Europe was 94.34 percent on Saturday.
Levels enable more independence
“Since Monday last week, the absolute storage levels in Germany have been at a record level,” said the managing director of the German storage association Ines, Sebastian Bleschke, today to the German Press Agency.
“Against the background of the gas reserves thus created, it can be stated that very good provisions have been made for the coming winter.” High filling levels are of central importance in order to achieve independence from individual gas suppliers. “We have now come a big step closer to this independence.”
A regulation stipulates that every storage facility in Germany should be at least 95 percent full by November 1st. The Ines Association continues to assume that only the largest German storage facility in Rehden in Lower Saxony will not reach this value by the reporting date. It was last filled to 91.4 percent.
