Germany: Despite being almost full natural Gas depots are not enough for the winter
Klaus Muller, head of the German Federal Network Agency, stated that filling the country’s natural gas storage sites to 95%, more than two weeks ahead of schedule, will help during the winter, but the stock alone isn’t enough.
“Purely in terms of quantity, the quantities of gas in the storage facilities are sufficient for about two months during a cold winter,” Mueller said in an e-mail statement, a copy of which was received by Bloomberg News.
To avoid a gas emergency during the winter, Mueller said Germany needs to increase natural gas imports, supplies in neighboring countries must remain stable and consumption must decline by at least 20%.
“The storage level on February 1 should be at least 40%,” he added.
This is first because the weather can get very cold in February and March, and secondly because the storage facilities must also be refilled for the winter of 2023-2024”.
Indeed, the rate of natural gas consumption by homes and small businesses in Germany decreased significantly last week, compared to the same period in previous years.
The Federal Network Agency in Bonn announced, on Thursday, that the average daily consumption of gas reached 571 gigawatt-hours, a decrease of 29% compared to the same calendar week from 2018 to 2021.
The agency’s statistics didn’t include natural gas consumption by large companies.
For his part, the agency’s president, Klaus Mueller, said that the decline in natural gas consumption is due to the relatively warm weather that has prevailed in the recent period.
However, Klaus stressed the need to continue to rationalize consumption even in light of low temperatures.
On a related topic, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to reach a quick agreement in the ruling coalition in Berlin over the dispute over the continued operation of German nuclear power plants that are still connected to the grid”.
We’ll solve the very specific practical issue very quickly and by next week,” Schulz said Friday in Berlin.
The debate in Germany’s so-called “traffic light coalition” between the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party revolves around the continued operation of nuclear power plants.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck is seeking to keep the two nuclear power plants in southern Germany ready for use in the event of energy supply bottlenecks until spring – after their effective closing date at the end of this year.
On the other hand, the FDP program is pushing for all three remaining nuclear power plants to continue operating until 2024.
