On November 14, the German gas storage facilities are 100 percent full. Since then, however, the cold winter months have led to a steady decline in fill levels. With a few exceptions, more gas has been consumed than stored for months – until now. For the first time since the beginning of the year, the memory levels are increasing again.
After 40 days of declining filling levels, the German gas storage tanks started storing gas again on Saturday. According to preliminary figures from the European storage association GIE, the filling level increased by 0.07 points to 71.58 percent. Gas was last stored in Germany on January 8th. Since then, regular withdrawals have reduced the storage level from 91.2 to 71.58 percent.
The President of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, was pleased. “The mild temperatures and the gas savings help and contribute to the provision for winter 23/24,” he wrote on Twitter.
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and 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, the storage tanks were 78.6 percent, almost twice as full as required by the Energy Industry Act.
Germany constantly gets gas through pipeline imports from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. In addition, gas is now also delivered by ship via new LNG terminals on the German coasts.
In a European comparison, Germany is in a relatively good position. The gas storage facilities in France are only 49 percent full, in the Czech Republic 67 percent, in the Netherlands 64 percent and in Austria 71 percent. In Poland, on the other hand, the gas storage levels are higher than in Germany. In the German Nachtbarland, the storage tanks are 75 percent full. The fill levels are also relatively high in Sweden and Portugal: 83 percent and 98 percent.