The situation is absurd: with the gas storage tanks full, the price of gas has fallen sharply. Gas supplies are waiting off the coast. An energy expert is harshly critical of European governments.
Wilhelmshaven – Germany has made tremendous efforts to free itself from dependence on Russian gas since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. Gas storage tanks were filledindustry and the population called on to save and hurriedly built piers for special ships with liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Full gas storage: LNG ships are waiting on the coasts
The first landing stage in Germany was inaugurated in Wilhelmshaven on Tuesday (November 15). The construction work was completed within a few months. So far there are no LNG terminals in this country; Liquid gas comes to Germany via feed-in points in France or the Netherlands, for example.
But right now Germany doesn’t need any gas at all – and can’t take any more either: the gas storage tanks are full. The utilization of gas storage facilities throughout the EU is also over 95 percent. Spain, for example, can no longer absorb gas – LNG tankers are waiting off the Iberian coastto finally be able to invest.
Other gas sellers are deliberately holding back their LNG ships, letting them bob along European shores in hopes of rising prices. Because the price of natural gas, after rising to record highs in the wake of the Ukraine war, has fallen sharply as a result of the mild autumn and reduced demand.
Expert: “Industrial consumption should not have been reduced so drastically”
Thierry Bros, professor of energy at the renowned French university Sciences Po Paris, criticizes the European governments in view of this absurd situation: “The EU overdid it this year with gas hamsters,” he told the Spiegel. There is little capacity left across the EU to absorb additional gas, which is why the LNG ships would now back up.
According to the professor, it would have been more intelligent not to fill the storage tanks so much: “More sense of proportion when purchasing gas would probably have secured the supply much more cheaply this winter,” said Bros dem Spiegel. Europe also overdid it when it came to saving energy. “Industrial consumption should not have been reduced so drastically. The overall economic damage is likely to run into the billions,” Bros estimated, according to the magazine.
However, he does not explain how politicians and authorities could have foreseen this situation months in advance. They have to ensure the energy supply of the population – and they cannot afford to take risks and – if something goes wrong – be left with a gas shortage.
Gas: Cold wave can cause drastic price increases
Because: As relaxed as the gas situation shows, there is still an energy crisis. “A cold spell can come at any time. Then the demand and the price immediately jump up,” said Hanns Koenig, market expert at the consulting firm Aurora Energy Research Spiegel. It is therefore good that the tankers are bobbing off Europe’s coasts. “In principle, these are additional storage units at sea that will not turn off so quickly,” Koenig told the magazine. After all, the prices for LNG in Europe are still higher than in Asia, for example.
With material from the dpa