Winter temperatures continue to cause fill levels in German gas storage facilities to fall. For the second day in a row, they fell by more than one percentage point, according to preliminary data from the European gas storage association GIE.
On Wednesday morning, the fill level was 83.8 percent. The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, continued to be 90.3 percent full. This value has remained almost unchanged since January 13th. Across the EU, the filling level was 76.4 percent, 0.7 percentage points less than the previous day.
The filling levels in Germany have been falling overall since January 9th. Before that, data had been stored for more than two weeks – which is not typical for the time of year.
Levels usually decrease in March
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. The filling levels usually decrease after the start of the heating period in autumn. On the morning of November 14, a fill level of 100 percent was recorded. On February 1, according to the Energy Industry Act, the storage tanks should still be 40 percent full.
It should be noted that gas continues to flow permanently through pipeline imports to Germany, according to the Federal Network Agency on Tuesday from Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. Germany now also receives natural gas via LNG terminals on German coasts.
