Germany entered the heating season with its gas storage at a record low for early November, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE). Storage was 59.21 percent full on 7 November, compared with 74.96 percent a year earlier, according to GIE’s AGSI data cited in reports. It was the lowest level for that date since the GIE series began in 2011.
EU storage was 72.65 percent full on 7 November, also the lowest for that date since the series began in 2011, according to the same data. The previous EU low was 75.9 percent in 2021. Germany’s previous low for the date was 71.8 percent, also in 2021. The figures underline how far Germany has fallen behind its neighbours: Italy’s storage was around 91 percent full at the start of November, France stood above 86 percent, and Poland was close to 100 percent, according to reports.
A target missed by a wide margin
Germany also failed to meet its target of an average storage fill level of about 70 percent for early November, according to reports. On 2 November, storage was only 61.05 percent full, well below the EU average of 74.56 percent, according to Reuters reporting on 3 November. On 6 November, GIE data put Germany at about 59.54 percent, down from 59.97 percent the day before, according to reports citing GIE.
The main driver for lower storage levels has been the Iran war and its impact on prices, which has made filling caverns over the summer uneconomical, according to the gas storage industry association INES, cited in reports. Europe’s benchmark Dutch TTF gas contract closed above 100 euros per megawatt-hour on 28 October, its highest level since the 2022 energy crisis, according to reports. Gazprom said withdrawals from Europe’s underground storage on 6 November set a record for that calendar date, according to reports citing the Russian company and Vedomosti.
No shortage yet, officials stress
Low inventory levels do not yet mean Germany is experiencing a gas shortage, according to reports. The German energy regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, says supplies remain stable and the risk of a strained situation is low, according to reports. Security depends on pipeline imports, LNG terminals, storage, infrastructure and demand, rather than storage levels alone, the regulator has stressed.
But the margin is thin. Over the past four years, German gas storage levels have on average come out 48 percentage points lower on 1 April than on 1 November, according to Reuters. One analyst cited by Reuters suggested Germany might finish the winter with gas levels around 20 to 25 percent, rather than the expected 30 to 40 percent. INES has called for stronger mechanisms to ensure storage is filled ahead of future winters, according to reports. Germany holds more than a fifth of the EU’s gas storage capacity, so its shortfall is not only a German problem — it is a test of Europe’s energy resilience as winter begins.
