Comparison of the federal state – gas storage in Vienna and Salzburg best filled

According to their own statements, Wien Energie and Salzburg AG have already been able to store more than half of the required energy. In Vienna it is currently 80 percent, in Salzburg it is 70 percent. The storage should be completely full by October, the APA reports after a call to all suppliers.

NÖ: One terawatt hour of non-Russian gas
Lower Austrian state energy supplier EVN announced that it had purchased one terawatt hour (TWh) of non-Russian natural gas for its customers. “The first partial deliveries took place in June and have been saved. The full amount should be in storage by the fall, it corresponds to about 20 percent of our customer turnover,” says EVN spokesman Stefan Zach. EVN also stores gas for its customers under existing contracts. At the end of June, the sales storage level was 52 percent of annual consumption.

“Market insanely illiquid”: Styria lagging behind
Energie Steiermark’s storage facilities are less full. As of June 30, customers had about 300 gigawatt hours (GWh), or 0.3 TWh, of gas in storage, as the company announced at APA request. The aim is to reach one TWh at the start of the heating season on 1 October. At the moment, however, the market is “insanely illiquid. There are few offers and the storage facilities are hardly available,” said Energie Steiermark. However, it was possible to buy a terawatt hour in Italy from a western supplier in addition to the strategic reserve. The annual requirement from the sales perspective of Energie Steiermark is about 3 TWh. The demand for space heating during the heating season is around one TWh.

Burgenland: special commemorative auction
To date, 162 GWh has been stored for Burgenland Energie’s customers. Due to new legal obligations, another ten GWh will be added towards the start of the heating season. These quantities have been agreed with OMV at a separate special storage auction and, if available, should also be stored in September. Burgenland Energie customers consumed 847 GWh of gas in 2021, of which approximately 700 GWh in winter. A spokesperson emphasized that the entire quantities are 100 percent secured by contracts.

Carinthia: memory half full
The Carinthian energy supplier Kelag has a market share of 2.3 terawatt hours for natural gas. By the middle of the year, the storage facilities were about half full and Kelag aims to reach 80 percent by October 1. Stadtwerke Klagenfurt does not have its own storage facility with its subsidiary Energie Klagenfurt, delivery is made via OMV. The annual requirement is 270 gigawatt hours, of which 205 gigawatt hours for the winter.

Tyrol: additional quantities are being stored
In Tyrol, the state energy supplier Tiwag and its subsidiary Tigas started a few weeks ago with the storage of additional quantities for the next heating season. At the beginning of July, according to the APA, there was about 120 GWh in storage. The storage level should be 400 to 450 GWh (80 to 90 percent full) by the end of September. According to the company, the total demand in the Tigas network area is around 4200 GWh or 4.2 TWh. Households account for about 15 to 20 percent of this. According to the national energy supplier, the highest monthly consumption in winter for all customers is around 600 GWh.

Vorarlberg: Winter demand secured by contract
Energy supplier Illwerke/VKW of Vorarlberg had stored approximately 200 GWh in its gas storage facilities by June 30. At the start of the heating season, another 300 GWh will be added. The rest of the winter requirements have already been obtained through binding forward transactions, a spokesperson said. During the heating season, the demand in Vorarlberg is around 1500 GWh, which Illwerke/VKW and Stadtwerke Bregenz supply as sales partners. In total, the annual gas demand in Vorarlberg is about 2000 GWh. Only in May did the country buy additional natural gas storage capacity from RAG Austria AG, which has been filled since 1 June. Like Tyrol, Vorarlberg is not connected to the Austrian gas network, but gets its natural gas through German pipelines.

Energie AG OÖ does not want to give figures
Energie AG Oberösterreich declined to provide any information. At APA’s request, the company said that as of June 30, “approximately twice the amount of stock that is required to be kept in winter storage under current legal requirements for customers in need of protection.” more than 80 percent must be achieved. The total annual need for households, businesses, housing construction, businesses, etc. is estimated at approximately 5.2 TWh, of which approximately 3.5 TWh is for the heating season from October to March. About 500 GWh of natural gas was stored at Linz AG on 5 July, which corresponds to 80 percent of the storage capacity, the municipal supplier reports. At the start of the winter season (1 October) the target is 600 GWh.