It's cold in Germany, and even in households that are willing to save, the heating is on. The result: Last week's consumption was only 5.2 percent below the four-year average. On Tuesday, the country tapped again more than one percent of the stored gas reserves.
Because of the winter cold, gas consumption in Germany fell well short of the declared savings target of 20 percent last week. As reported by the Federal Network Agency in its gas situation report, consumption by households and industry in calendar week 49 was only 5.2 percent below the weekly average of the four previous years. Adjusted for temperature, consumption in the 48th and 49th calendar week was only 12 percent below the reference value for the last four years. Consumption is therefore in the critical range.
The authorities are also expecting a significant increase in consumption for the current week. "We consider the small savings to be manageable at the moment if they remain an outlier," said Network Agency President Klaus Müller. "We have taken good precautions, but we have to remain vigilant." The savings target of at least 20 percent continues to apply throughout the winter. "It is important that we all continue to use gas very sparingly together," he emphasized.
As is usual in winter, the filling level of the German gas storage tanks continued to fall - albeit somewhat more than in the previous week due to the cold. As on Monday, the filling level fell by more than one percentage point on Tuesday. According to the European gas storage association GIE, it was 91.3 percent on Wednesday morning. The last time gas was stored in Germany was on November 27th. The largest German storage facility in Rehden, Lower Saxony, also recorded a filling level of 91.3 percent.
