The background: The Haidach gas storage facility is connected to the German gas network and plays a central role in a Bavarian industrial region near the border known as the “chemical triangle”. But private households in Bavarian cities such as Munich, Ingolstadt and Regensburg are also partially supplied with gas from the Austria Bavaria Gas Pipeline (ABG), which, according to the news magazine “Focus”, is fed from the warehouse in Haidach.
The gas storage facility “has always been a special feature”, according to “Focus”, also with reference to a law passed by the German government that prescribes minimum filling quantities for gas storage facilities from the summer: Since the law “only applies to storage facilities on German soil ‘ applies, Germany has ‘no means’ to replenish the storage facilities in Haidach. And as can be seen from the filling data (Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory, AGSI) published by the Association of European Gas Storage Operators, the German gas storage facility in Haidach is largely empty.
“The situation must be clarified as soon as possible”
However, the problem that is causing debates in Germany does not only concern the location on Austrian territory, but also the corporate structure behind the gas depot. “Haidach is about two-thirds owned by Gazprom, which emptied it after it was apparently already below average for strategic reasons,” quoted the “Passauer Neue Presse” (“PNP”) on Thursday as saying Bavaria’s Economics Minister Hubert Aiwanger.
According to this, the situation “must be clarified promptly” because the storage capacity of Haidach is “urgently needed for the coming winter”. According to dpa, Tobias Schmid from the Bavarian gas network operator Bayernets also sees an increasing need for action. “If Haidach should be 90 percent full in November,” then by the end of June at the latest, it would have to be “stored as a maximum.”
“Trustful cooperation”
The above-ground facilities in Haidach each belong to one third of the Austrian Rohöl-Aufsuchungs-Aktiengesellschaft (RAG) and two companies belonging to the Gazprom network of companies, the underground parts of the Republic of Austria. The Gazprom holdings made headlines at the beginning of April when the Russian state-owned company announced the separation of its German subsidiary Gazprom Germania.
The procedure also caused astonishment in Austria – especially at RAG. However, fears about the impact on Austria’s gas supply were limited. “Haidach is a large German storage facility,” was the message from the gas industry at the time. It remains unclear how things will continue with Gazprom Germania. Gazprom Germania in Germany is currently under state control by order of Economics Minister Robert Habeck.
Also usable for Austria
Although the gas stored in Salzburg’s Haidach is intended for the German market, the storage facility could also be used by the Austrian side in an emergency. The storage facility, which is directly connected to the German network infrastructure, could also be used in Austria for seasonal compensation, according to Gazprom Germania’s Haidach website. This probably affects Tyrol and Vorarlberg in particular, which are already supplied entirely with gas via Germany.
It remains to be seen whether the strategic gas reserve approved in Austria this week will also affect the filling of the German storage facility in Haidach – according to media reports, the gas reserve is to be distributed across all storage facilities in the country by June. In any case, “Focus” is already seeing “a first sign of accommodation” from Vienna – according to the magazine, Bavaria and Austria already have a “trusting cooperation” in the gas supply.
Expert calls for rapid filling of depots
In the future, there will probably be a greater need for such a system at EU level. In any case, Russia’s game with gas is now increasing efforts in Brussels to set up a common safety net. The intention to jointly buy and store gas in the future in order to be prepared for a supply stop from Russia sounds good, but it is difficult, said Christian Egenhofer, energy expert at the Brussels think tank Center for European Policy Studies (CEPS), to the Ö1- morning journal.
Accordingly, private companies such as OMV are responsible for purchasing gas and not politicians. However, the EU Commission can coordinate between the companies from Brussels so that they know who is knocking on which gas supplier’s door and who is negotiating with them so that they don’t outdo each other. According to Egenhofer, in addition to Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia, Austria is also particularly affected, since the lion’s share of EU gas storage facilities are located in the four countries mentioned.
Finally, the CEPS expert makes it clear that the EU countries must quickly clarify technical and financial issues here. Accordingly, they were probably a little too sure that Moscow is leaving the gas tap open because Russia’s long-term ruler Vladimir Putin needs the money from the EU: “The Russian gas supply stop to Poland and Bulgaria should now change that”.