Germany enters heating season with unexpectedly low storage level of gas
Clean Energy Wire
Germany is starting the heating season 2025/2026 with a low storage level of gas at 75 percent, a significantly reduced amount relative to previous years, found the November update of gas scenarios by industry association INES. The association modelled three different scenarios – warm, moderate, and cold winter – and found that only under extremely cold temperatures is there a risk that storage facilities would be completely emptied by mid-January. Otherwise, the statutory fill level requirement of 30 percent can be met on February 1st. The increased risk is due to lower than expected starting levels, higher gas consumption in the past months, and weaker storage filling in the EU internal market.
INES has called on the German government to fulfill its coalition promises to introduce effective instruments to ensure gas stores are filled in the future. “For the future, it is important that the federal government – as announced in the coalition agreement – introduces instruments to ensure secure and more cost-effective filling of gas storage facilities,” said Sebastian Heinermann, managing director of INES. “A look at the storage levels of other EU member states shows very clearly that winter preparedness can be significantly improved through political framework conditions," he argued.
Contrary to the INES, analysts have said that even during a very cold winter Germany is unlikely to face shortages, as, among other issues, the country meets a large part of its demand at any time from imports.
Following the halt of direct gas deliveries from Russia to Germany in August 2022, in the aftermath of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany scrambled to find alternative sources to fill its gas stores to avoid shortages. The country has since increased capacities for alternative imports by setting up LNG import infrastructure and put emergency plans in place. The EU is currently negotiating legal proposals to phase out all Russian oil and gas by January 2028.
