Die Welt: record cold temperatures leave German natural gas storage empty too quickly
Record cold temperatures in Germany this week meant that the country’s gas saving targets were not being met, Die Welt reports. Stocks were down by more than 1% in a single day. This December could be one of the coldest in a decade, Klaus Müller, head of the Federal Network Agency, warned and urged Germans to save more, in particular to turn off heating in certain rooms.
The extreme cold temperatures of the past few days have left German natural gas storage facilities empty much faster than expected, reports Die Welt. On Monday stocks fell by 1.04% and on Tuesday by 1.19% to 91.26%. Consumption has reportedly only increased subsequently as temperatures have continued to fall. As recently as last week it was 0.7 °C below the average.
As a result, the blue fuel savings targets were not achieved, the publication states. Compared to last week, Germans used 14 percent more gas this week. This December may be one of the coldest in a decade,” warned Klaus Müller, head of the Federal Network Agency. – That is why I ask you to be careful with your gas consumption despite the cold weather. He pointed out that the private sector and industry are consuming too much gas. There have been problems with nuclear power plants in France which have led to high consumption of gas for electricity generation which then has to be transported to the neighboring country.
However, gas shortages are “still a long, long way off”, underlined Müller. We can weather the cold weeks for one, two or three weeks, but we can’t go on like this in January and February”, he explained. In purely mathematical terms, at 1% a day, the reserves should last for 90 days, i.e., until mid-March. But it cannot be ruled out that, because of the forecasted fall in temperatures to -15°C in some regions, consumption may increase by up to 2% and then the reserves will only be sufficient for 45 days.
Even if there is enough gas for this winter, the current temperatures could be a problem for the upcoming heating season at the junction of 2023 and 2024, the head of the Federal Network Agency explained. After the breakdown of the Nord Stream pipeline there is no hope of resuming deliveries from Russia. Germany is therefore dependent on imports from Norway and liquefied natural gas transports. So it is not worth emptying the gas storage facilities too much, Müller advised, once again urging citizens to save. In particular, he suggested lowering the temperature in some rooms or not heating them at all.
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Die Welt: record cold temperatures leave German natural gas storage empty too quickly