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gas storage facility of VNG AG in Saxony-Anhalt
Photo: Waltraud Grubitzsch / dpa
The first gas storage target of the new EU regulation was reached more than two weeks earlier: Despite the fact that supply volumes from Russia have been significantly reduced for weeks, German gas storage facilities are more than 75 percent full again.
According to preliminary data from European gas storage operators on Saturday evening, the level on Friday morning was 75.43 percent.
The fill level is always reported with a delay.
The ordinance stipulates that the German storage facilities must be at least 75 percent full by September 1st.
On October 1st it should be at least 85 percent, on November 1st at least 95 percent.
The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a kind of buffer system for the gas market.
If data continues to be saved at the same pace as last time, the 85 percent mark should be reached before October 1st.
The federal government wants to use various measures to ensure that the gas storage facilities in Germany are almost full at the beginning of the heating period.
Germany should be better prepared in the event of a total failure of Russian deliveries in winter.
The amount of gas stored at a level of 95 percent roughly corresponds to nationwide consumption in January and February 2022.
According to the Ines storage association, the currently high levels of storage are made possible primarily by low consumption in summer and strong imports from north-west Europe.
dam/dpa