Germany to achieve gas storage target in September

FILE: landfall facility of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the transfer station of the OPAL gas pipeline, in Lubmin, Germany, July 2022Markus Schreiber/Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Germany’s gas reserves are at 80% and are on track to meet its 85% target

Gas reserves are filling up “faster than expected” in Germany, despite drastic drops in Russian deliveries, the government announced on Sunday. The country now expects to meet its October gas reserves target during September.

“Despite the difficult circumstances (…) the reservoirs are filling up faster than expected,” Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.

The storage target set by the government for October, at 85%, “should be reached from the beginning of September”, the ministry noted.

Gas reserves currently stand at 82% of their capacity.

As recently as mid-August, Germany’s energy regulator was unsure about whether the country would be able to meet its objectives. But measures taken by Berlin in recent weeks, including energy savings and the massive purchase of gas from other suppliers have allowed “significant progress”, according to the government.

Germany is heavily dependent on Russian gas and has seen its deliveries drop sharply since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Gas flows have fallen to 20% of the main Nord Stream pipeline’s capacity, with the European Union accusing Moscow of using the energy as a “weapon” in the dispute.

Faced with the risk of shortages, Berlin set a series of targets in July for gas stocks to reach 95% by 1 November 1, before the onset of winter.