The European Union’s gas storage facilities can cover up to a third of its gas demand in winter.
For the second year in a row, the European Union reached its target to fill up its gas storage capacity to 90% to prepare for the crucial winter period with weeks to spare.
The target was reached on August 18, the European Commission announced on Wednesday, ten weeks ahead of the November 1 deadline. This amounts to just under 92 billion cubic metres of gas which can cover nearly a third of the 27 member states’ combined gas demand in winter.
“I think that’s a very good sign in terms of the overall shape of the market, our ability to find alternative energy supplies and to maintain those at a good level,” a Commission spokesperson said on Thursday.
“We obviously are in touch, on a constant basis, with our member states to ensure that they are prepared for the winter, but we have no indications that there are any, significant, new threats or risks for the coming winter,” he added.
The 90% gas storage target was rolled out in June 2022, weeks after Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine, exacerbating a growing energy crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moscow’s unprovoked attack on its neighbour also prompted the EU to vow to drastically slash gas imports from Russia – its main provider – in a bid to deprive Moscow of funds to finance the war.
This pushed global gas prices to new unprecedented heights with the Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe’s leading hub, hitting over €300 per megawatt-hour (MWh) by the end of August, igniting fears the bloc could struggle to power itself during the cold winter months.
Governments across the EU had to step in to relieve the financial burden of rising energy prices on industries and households while Brussels rolled out a €300 billion programme, RePowerEU, to accelerate the transition towards renewable energy.
The share of Russia’s pipeline gas in EU imports has now dropped from 40% in 2021 to 8% by the end of 2023. Dutch TTF gas futures meanwhile stood €39.69 MWh on August 12.
EU Commission for Kadri Simson welcomed the “EU’s readiness for the coming winter” in a statement, but stressed that Ukraine faces a “much more difficult situation” as its “energy sector is under heavy and constant attack from Russia.”
“Europe must continue to stand by Ukraine and provide the necessary support to its energy system so that the Ukrainian population too can get safely through the tough winter ahead,” she added.
