Germany’s gas reserves at highest level ever nearing 99%

Germany’s gas reserves have reached 98.52 percent of full capacity, with more than 240 terawatt hours’ worth of energy (preliminary data from 30 October) – the highest level ever achieved, according to a dpa report carried by Tagesspiegel. The amount of natural gas stored in Germany’s reserves reached 239.64 terawatt hours on 24 October, surpassing the previous record registered on 10 November 2019, data published by European gas storage operators shows. In January and February 2022, Germany consumed a total of nearly 227 terawatt hours of natural gas, according to the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), the country’s energy regulator. Storage facilities across Europe had reached 94.34 percent by 29 October, writes dpa. "The absolute storage levels in Germany have been at a record level since Monday of last week [24 October]," Sebastian Bleschke, managing director of German storage association INES, told dpa. He added that “very good provisions have been made for the coming winter”, stressing that high filling levels are of central importance in order to achieve independence from individual gas suppliers. "We have now come a big step closer to this independence."

The Federal Network Agency reported that gas consumption in October was considerably lower than average consumption in the past four years due in part to warmer weather. The agency noted that wholesale prices have fluctuated greatly and have recently fallen sharply. It cautioned that “businesses and private consumers must adapt to significantly higher gas prices”. Russian gas flows to Europe have declined significantly since war broke out in Ukraine. Even before subsea explosions put the Nord Stream pipelines out of service, German economy minister Robert Habeck had made it clear that his energy plans no longer relied on Russian gas.