Of . – 12.16.2022 12:21 (act. 12.16.2022 14:05)
Gas storage levels in Europe have dropped recently due to the cold weather. ©APA/TOBIAS STEINMAURER (Subject)
Europe’s gas storage facilities are depleting: thanks to the cold snap, levels are falling even though they are still full.
For Austria, the ACSI platform indicates a filling level of 87.6 percent (Wednesday) and a decrease of 0.7 percent compared to the previous day. In Germany, gas storage tanks were recently 90.2% full. That was one percentage point less than the day before. The gas was last stored in Germany on 27 November. Since then, the amount of filling has decreased – as is often the case in winter.
The cold is causing gas storage levels in Europe to drop
Storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. Fill levels generally decrease after the start of the fall warming period. In Austria, gas storage facilities were more than 90% full in autumn. In Germany, on the morning of November 14, the filling level was 100%. According to the Power Industry Law, they must still be 40% full on February 1st.
Gas flows into Germany via pipeline imports
It should be noted that gas continues to flow to Germany through pipeline imports, more recently exclusively from Norway, Holland and Belgium. As of December 22, liquefied natural gas (LNG) landed directly in Germany should also enter the market for the first time.
Cold caused increased gas consumption
The cold had recently caused an increase in gas consumption. The 20% savings target demanded by the Federal Network Agency in relation to the average consumption of the last four years was not achieved. Last week (week 49), household and industry consumption was only 5.2% below the weekly average of the previous four years. Adjusted for temperature, consumption in the 48th and 49th calendar week was 12% below the reference value of the last four years.
Savings on gas consumption ranged from 8.3 to 25.4 percent in Austria
In Austria, according to the Ministry of Climate, savings in gas consumption from August to November ranged from 8.3 to 25.4%, depending on the month, compared to the average consumption over the last five years. EU calls for 15% savings from August 2022 to March 2023.