The Ministry of the Environment is now clarifying Austria’s gas reserves: According to this information, the gas storage facilities are currently 87.5 percent full – and about 60 percent of these are owned by Austrian storage customers or the Austrian state. That is currently 47.89 terawatt hours (TWh).
In the heating period from October to the end of March, Austria consumes an average of 63 TWh and about 95 TWh for the whole year, Minister Leonore Gewessler said on Thursday. Recently, however, significant savings have been made. Gas consumption fell by 6.4 percent in the first half of the year. Gas is also being promoted in Austria. And the gas pipes don’t dry up completely, so Austria has to get through the heating season.
“Well prepared”
As of November 1, Austria will have strategic reserves of 20 TWh. Another 4.36 TWh has already been stored by the industry as a reserve. About 7.47 TWh is reserved for secure storage customers such as households and social services and 16.06 TWh for other storage customers. “We are going into the winter with a decent pillow. Our investigations show that Austrian companies and of course the federal government have taken good precautions with the strategic reserve,” notes E-Control board member Wolfgang Urbantschitsch.
About 40 percent of the gas is reserved for foreign storage customers. However, only 0.3 terawatt hours of this is explicitly exported. About 33 TWh can be attributed to gas trading – at least some of this gas could therefore remain in Austria.
Transparency in gas supply
Information on storage levels, property and gas prices and associated information on electricity are now bundled and presented on the Internet, updated daily. “We have made great efforts in recent months to fill our storage facilities and secure gas supplies in Austria. We also want to inform the people in Austria about this transparently. That is why in the future a lot of information about the energy supply of our country will be available on energie.gv.at,” says Gewessler.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
