Gas storage fuller than expected |
The Curve of Hope!
This curve could be THE bright spot for the cold and dark winter!
Germany is in the middle of the gas crisis, but current data gives hope. They show that, according to figures from the Federal Network Agency, German gas storage facilities are already 90.41 percent full despite the energy crisis!
That means: the distance to the self-declared 95 percent target is getting smaller and smaller.
Background: According to the regulation, the German gas storage facilities should be at least 95 percent full by November 1st. The amount of gas stored at this level roughly corresponds to nationwide consumption in January and February 2022.
In this way, the federal government wants to ensure that the storage tanks are as full as possible at the beginning of the heating period and that Germany stays warm through the winter even if Russian gas supplies fail completely.
And: Good news for the gas price too! According to the “Zukunft Gas” association, this will decrease by 2024. “We will definitely see a drop in prices over the next 18 months,” says Managing Director Timm Kehler.
They would probably be above the level of 2021, i.e. before the Ukraine war, but “significantly below what we have had to experience in the past few weeks and months.”
Gas shortage hardly predictable
Bundesnetzagentur boss Klaus Müller, on the other hand, remained skeptical and continued to warn of the consequences of a harsh winter for gas supplies. Problem: The lack of gas is hardly predictable!
“Cold spells can occur anywhere in Germany. If we get a very cold winter, we have a problem,” Müller told the “Handelsblatt” last week.
In addition to private heating behavior and the situation in neighboring countries, the weather is decisive for whether there could be a shortage. However, all three factors could not be predicted.
Müller was also critical of the recent savings efforts by private consumers. In his estimation, these would have consumed more gas than hoped.
Müller: “In view of the warm temperatures and the extremely high gas prices, I was very surprised. That has to change.” Many heaters are apparently still set as they were before the crisis. “This is a warning signal, something urgently needs to happen.”
In other words, unfortunately, people are not saving as much as they should.
Majority of Germans are not yet heating
And that despite the fact that the majority of Germans – despite single-digit temperatures at night – still have their heating cold. This is shown by an online survey by BILD (67,000 participants, not representative) from last Wednesday.
► 38 percent of the participants stated that they had already turned on the heating.
► 54 percent STILL have the heating off, but will turn it on over the next few weeks and months despite the high energy costs.
► 8 percent said they were determined to keep the heating turned off completely this winter.
But that also means that as soon as the heating is on, the gas level could drop again relatively quickly.
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