Climate Protection Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) pointed out on Friday that less gas has come from Russia again today. OMV announced that it can purchase gas on the spot market if necessary. “Currently, the storage level in Austria is just over 40 percent,” says Gewessler. “We are prepared for all scenarios, up to and including a complete cessation of supplies from Russia.”
Austria currently has about 38.4 terawatt hours stored – that’s about 40 percent of Austria’s annual consumption. “However, the strategically important Haidach gas storage facility in Salzburg is not connected to the Austrian, but to the German gas network. Monthly consumption at this time of year is just under four terawatt hours, of which domestic industry accounts for about two-thirds,” the minister calculated. Last year Austria consumed about 96 TWh of gas.
“We must have no illusions”
Referring to the war in Ukraine, Gewessler said: “For Russia, the gas supply is a resource in the current conflict. We should not have any illusions about that. We are prepared for all scenarios, up to and including a complete cessation of supplies from Russia.”
NEOS energy spokeswoman Karin Doppelbauer, on the other hand, sees cause for concern. She wants to know: “How much gas has already been bought on the free market? Where does that come from?” It “finally needed answers from the Minister of Energy and not vague promises for the winter”.
“Unconditionally guaranteed”
According to the management report of the Austrian Grid Management AG (AGGM) on Friday, the domestic supply is “guaranteed without restrictions”. The price situation on the markets is “more volatile at the moment and was 130 euros/MWh yesterday”. The AGGM writes about the memory status: “The memory will continue to be filled, but to a lesser extent than in the past week.”
Interesting is the chronological table of the storage level in the “Network Distribution Area East” relevant to Austria, which was almost 30 percent of the possible in April 2021 and then increased to almost 80 percent in October 2021. Since then, it has gone steeply downhill, until a trend reversal occurred in mid-April and storage levels have now risen to about 55 percent, according to today’s figures from AGGM.
Gas storage in Sweden only 11.3 percent full
In addition to Austria, the gas storage facilities in Germany are 56.3 percent full and the EU average is 52.4 percent full. This is apparent from the figures of the interest association of storage companies AGSI on Thursday. The Czech Republic even has 70.5 percent, while Hungary has only 36.5 percent. The storage facilities of non-EU member England are 94 percent full. It is very different in Sweden, with only 11.3 percent.
Source: Krone
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