With the exception of two, all gas storage facilities in Germany were at least 95 percent full, as required by law, on November 1st. This emerged on Wednesday evening from preliminary data published on the Internet by the European gas storage association GIE. According to this, the German storage facilities were 99.19 percent full by 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 0.29 percentage points more than the previous day.
The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, did not reach the target, it was 92.5 percent full. A smaller storage facility in Epe, North Rhine-Westphalia, reported a value of 91.1 percent.
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. They are usually well filled when the heating season begins in autumn. The filling levels then decrease until spring. According to the Storage Association Initiative Energies Storage (Ines), there are around 25 storage operators with over 40 underground gas storage facilities in Germany.
Müller: Storage tanks can empty quickly when it’s cold
“How long the storage lasts depends heavily on the temperature,” emphasized the President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller. “If it gets very cold in winter, the storage tanks will empty again very quickly,” said Müller at the request of the German press agency dpa on Wednesday. “It is therefore important that we continue to be very careful with gas consumption and save as much as possible, even when temperatures are falling,” he warned.
Germany was able to fill the storage facilities very quickly thanks to gas deliveries from other countries, the head of the authority continued. “Therefore, the solidarity obligation towards our European neighbors should not be questioned. There are clear legal rules that apply in the event of a gas shortage.”
