The German government announced that it has early achieved its aim to fill its gas reserves by 95 percent, in order to secure the consumption of two months in the winter, despite the interruption of Russian supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline in full since the beginning of September, according to “Sky News”.
The safeguards today exceeded the 95 percent mark and achieved 95, the Ministry of Economy stated in a statement.
Germany has thus achieved its objective two weeks ahead of the deadline established by the government on November 1; “Although Nord Stream 1 stopped, the precautions were filled faster than planned,” the announcement from Economy Minister Robert Habik said.
Germany uses between 90 and 120 hours of gas every month between November and February, thus this enormous amount of gas only lasts for two months or so of winter consumption.
Before the Ukraine War, more than 55% of Germany’s imports came from Russian gas supplies, according to Habik. “We have to continue to work very hard,” he added.
The imports of Russian gas steadily decreased until they ceased in early September after the Russian-Ukrainian crisis began in February.
Berlin established a set of goals in July to have the gas reserves filled by 95% by November 1 before the start of the winter.
To achieve this, the government approved a series of energy savings measures, including increasing the use of coal, reducing energy consumption in public buildings and procedures to motivate companies.
In order to secure supply, the Olaf Schultz administration has additionally set aside 1.5 billion euros under special circumstances to buy liquefied natural gas.
According to Johan Lilisham, a professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany has expanded its gas imports, particularly from Norway and the United States via Belgium and the Netherlands. He added: “Germany bought everything feasible.”
However, this resulted in a rise in gas prices for individuals and businesses in Germany. Berlin anticipated that this would lead to an economic downturn the next year, and Germany does not currently have the capacity to import liquefied natural gas.
In this context, the government launched five projects to establish stations that allow the import of liquefied natural gas directly across the sea.
In the North Sea port of Wilhelmasfin, one of these stations is anticipated to launch this winter.
Germany’s gas reserves are 95% full, which is barely enough for two months of the winter.
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