A trail leads to the basement. The European Union (EU) wants to calm energy prices, secure supplies and reduce its over-dependence on Russian gas. To this end, it provides in particular for the winter of 2022 to make it mandatory to fill up its underground deposits (old deposits, salt caves, aquifers) by at least 80% (then 90% for the following years).
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In France, since 2018, providers have been legally obliged to provide storage for 85% of their capacity for the sixteen national sites. “This system has made it possible to be in a much more favorable situation at the beginning of winter than in other European countries,” points out Gilles Doyhamboure, Director “Commerce, Regulation and Large Accounts” of Teréga, the second operator of Speicherhex.
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After the winter heating season, the continent’s reservoirs were empty – they still have an average of 29% capacity left. The unprecedented price increase on the gas market makes each refill more expensive. Without necessarily always being used, “the EU’s storage capacities represent about a quarter of its annual gas consumption” – which was around 400 billion cubic meters in 2021 – recalls Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at Columbia University’s Global Center for Energy Policy (United States).
At a time when the EU plans to phase out Russian hydrocarbons by 2027, the Gazprom company continues its activities. Not only does it deliver gas on a daily basis, but it still owns or manages around 9% of Europe’s storage capacity, according to calculations by Thierry Bros, professor at Sciences Po Paris and specialist in the field.
“Europe has shown naivety”
The Russian company previously controlled the huge Rehden site in Lower Saxony (West Germany) and Jemgum in the same state via its subsidiary Astora. Or that of Haidach in Austria. The energy company also owns shares or capacities in the Damborice (Czech Republic), Etzel and Katharina (Germany) and Bergermeer (Netherlands) reservoirs.
In October 2021, Rehden suffered from a very low degree of filling: only 5%, compared to 87% in the same period in 2020, specifies a communication from the French Institute for International Relations. Mr. Bros interprets it as a political will on the part of Russia: Europe has shown naivety because not replenishing Gazprom inventories has allowed the Russians to exert a structural influence on the market. According to Bernard Tardieu, vice-president of the Energy Department of the Academy of Technologies, “the Germans were so confident that they became dependent on the Russians not only for buying Russian gas, but also for storage”.
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