Germany’s Gas storage facilities were around 61% full on November 1, according to the figures cited in a Handelsblatt commentary. Under the country’s Gas Storage Filling Ordinance, most facilities are required to reach 80% capacity by that date. Six storage sites with particularly limited injection and withdrawal capacity are subject to a lower 45% Target.
Neither group met its required level, leaving Germany’s legally mandated storage target clearly unmet.
The commentary challenges the government’s claim that gas supplies for winter are secure. It says available reserves may be sufficient, but warns that if the season is as cold as the winter of 2010, storage could be depleted by the end of January—before winter is over. The article argues that the possibility of supplies being sufficient should not be presented as certainty.
Sources: Handelsblatt.