Gas flows into Germany's largest gas storage facility: filling level at 38.63 percent

Created: 07/27/2022, 11:49 am

The gas storage facility in Rehden is the fifth largest in Germany and is therefore often the focus of attention.

(Archive image) © Mohssen Assanimoghaddam/dpa

The gas storage facility in Rehden is currently being filled with gas.

It is the fifth largest storage facility in Germany.

Rehden – While the EU states are laying the groundwork for an emergency plan to curb gas consumption, gas continues to flow into the large storage facility in Rehden.

The fill level is currently 38.63 percent, according to Tuesday, July 26, on the Internet platform Aggregate Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI).

The most recent measurement is from July 24th.

The working gas volume of the storage quantity in Rehden is therefore 4368 terawatt hours.

Measured against previous data, the fill level in Europe's largest gas storage facility (at 3.9 billion cubic meters, it has around a fifth of the total storage capacity in Germany) is increasing: on July 13, for example, it was 29.95 percent.

However, the increasing gas reserves in Rehden are not a reason for calming down – nor is the total storage level in Germany, which the Federal Network Agency puts at 65.9 percent.

Because: "The gas storage tanks are filled in summer, i.e. in the months when little heating is used and therefore little gas is consumed."

Gas storage should be 90 percent full by early December

The Federal Network Agency explains: “On November 1st, the filling levels will then be around 90 percent.

To ensure that the storage tanks are sufficiently filled in the coming winter, the Bundestag passed a corresponding law.

Accordingly, the gas storage tanks must be 80 percent full by October 1st and 90 percent by November 1st.

On February 1st of the following year, a minimum filling quantity of 40 percent will apply again.” However, this cannot be assumed at the moment.

In order to be able to assess the further development, the Federal Network Agency examined various scenarios in the so-called gas quantity structure in mid-June.

"This model simulates the balancing of all entry and exit points in the German natural gas network," it says - but also: "Regional gas shortages, which could arise due to technical restrictions in the gas network, cannot be mapped here."

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The model is used to calculate forecasts that are as realistic as possible in scenarios with different constellations (e.g. import and export development as well as a 20 percent reduction in consumption).

A gas shortage in mid-January 2023 cannot therefore be ruled out: the gas storage facilities would be empty in winter.

A gas deficit of around 44 terawatt hours could arise by mid-April.