Storage half full
Habeck wants more control over gas reserves
01/21/2022 11:46 am
It’s an awkward situation: the winter is still long and the German gas storage facilities are significantly emptier than usual. Economics Minister Habeck is now calling for more state intervention options. In the case of Nord Stream 2, he advocates a tough stance on Russia.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has spoken out in favor of more state control over natural gas reserves in Germany. At the moment, the possibilities in this area are still very limited, the Greens politician told the news magazine “Spiegel”. The winter has shown that Germany with reduced stocks is more susceptible to price fluctuations and geopolitical tensions. “That’s why we have to improve the options for making provisions for next winter so that the gas storage tanks are well filled,” said Habeck. “I see that as a political task.”
Gas storage compensates for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus forms a kind of buffer system for the market. The storage facilities in Germany are currently significantly emptier than usual in January. On Tuesday of this week they were only about 45 percent full, as can be seen from an overview of European storage companies. Exactly three years ago the value was 70 percent, in January 2020 even 93 percent of the storage capacity. According to the Energy Saving Initiative, the filling levels have been well below the comparative values since recording began in 2011 since the beginning of May 2021.
By far the largest gas supplier in Germany is Russia. If there are no deliveries from the country, Habeck believes that switching to other sources of supply is possible. The newly created EU landing capacities for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the Netherlands, Poland and Italy are only 30 percent utilised. “If you were to increase it to 100 percent, it would be possible in terms of capacity to handle large parts of the imports via LNG.” But the question of price has not yet been taken into account.
In the case of Nord Stream 2, Habeck advocated a tough stance on Russia. The gas pipeline has always been a geopolitical project, he said. Germany would not have to pay the operators of Nord Stream 2 any compensation if the pipeline was not licensed. If the currently suspended certification process is resumed, the Federal Network Agency will decide whether the requirements for approval are met. “And if that’s not the case, then no compensation is due.”