Germany continues to save gas. In the past week, gas consumption was 18.2 percent below the average consumption for the years 2018 to 2021, as the Federal Network Agency reported today.

The slightly higher average temperatures may also have helped: They were 1.1 degrees above the average of the four reference years.

Industry used 20 percent less, households and businesses 16 percent less. Authority President Klaus Müller described the decline as “relevant”. “Every saving is easy on the wallet and helps the climate

As is usual in winter, the filling levels in German gas storage facilities are currently falling. According to preliminary data, the total filling level on Wednesday morning was 69.5 percent.

That was almost 0.6 percentage points less than the day before, according to data from the European gas storage association GIE. For comparison: a year earlier the fill level was 28.6 percent.

Level in the EU at around 61.1 percent

The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, was 84.6 percent full on Tuesday. Across the EU, the fill level was around 61.1 percent. That was 0.5 percentage points less than the day before.

The storage facilities compensate for fluctuations in gas consumption and thus form a buffer system for the market. On the morning of November 14, a fill level of 100 percent was recorded.

It should be noted that in addition to gas withdrawal from the storage facilities, gas continues to flow to Germany through pipeline imports.

According to the Federal Network Agency, Germany received natural gas from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and France on Tuesday. Gas now also flows into the German transmission network via new LNG terminals on the German coast.

By INDO & NY, March 7, 2023