Netherlands Completes Winter Gas Filling: About 93 TWh in Storage, Above the EU's 64 Percent Target
Dutch state-owned energy company EBN announced on October 20 that it has completed its gas storage filling programme for the Netherlands. There is currently approximately 93 TWh of gas in the country's storage facilities, corresponding to a fill rate of over 64 percent and meeting the filling target set by the European Union. EBN said it completed the task in close cooperation with the storage facility operators and with as little additional impact on the market as possible.
The target had been lowered in September. According to EBN, the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the spring pushed natural gas prices so high that it became commercially unattractive for market participants to store gas, the role normally filled by the market during the summer. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy therefore commissioned EBN to store up to 85 TWh of gas in the PGI Alkmaar, Grijpskerk, Norg and Bergermeer storage facilities, at a time when the European filling target stood at 74 percent, or about 107 TWh. In September, following a call from the EU, the ministry revised the Dutch target to 64 percent, about 93 TWh, which has now been achieved, partly thanks to EBN's contribution.
EBN said the negative difference between summer and winter gas prices was not the only challenge last summer, with persistent geopolitical uncertainties and technical constraints on injecting gas at high temperatures also playing a part. The Dutch government has previously said average winter gas withdrawals over the past five years were around 70 TWh, meaning 93 TWh is sufficient in a normal winter, and that alongside storage the Netherlands draws winter supplies from domestic production, liquefied natural gas imports and pipeline imports.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 荷兰 Den Helder 的 NAM 天然气处理设施，Lars van der Heide 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0（Wikimedia Commons）
