German gas storage falls to 59%, operators warn of winter shortfall risk

Operators warn of a winter shortfall

The industry association Initiative Energien Speichern (Ines) warned on Tuesday, 10 November, that a cold winter could leave Germany short of gas. Its 17 members run gas and hydrogen storage sites that account for more than 90 percent of German storage capacity, and they earn money by marketing that capacity. Operators put the fill level at 61 percent on 1 November, while the European storage platform AGSI recorded 59.21 percent on 8 November, or about 146 TWh of gas. The same date a year earlier stood at 74.96 percent, and the previous ten-year low for that calendar day was about 71.6 percent. Ines managing director Sebastian Heinermann put the risk plainly.

“Low storage levels pose a considerable risk to supply security.”

2026-11-0161%

2026-11-0859.21%

2026-11-01

61 %

2026-11-08

59.21 %

Data from the article text

How large the gap could be

The association's models assume a winter as cold as 2010 and show that up to 6.6 TWh of gas could be missing each month in January, February and March 2027. That equals roughly a day and a half of German winter gas consumption. On single January days at extreme temperatures the gap could reach 1.7 TWh, around 40 percent of average daily consumption in January 2026. The calculations already count extra imports from neighbouring European countries and full use of bookable LNG terminal capacity. Ines regards such a cold winter as less likely and says supply is secure under normal or mild temperatures. To close the gap, the association calls for a state gas reserve, financial incentives for storing gas, or an obligation to use storage.

Italy accuses Berlin of driving up prices

Alessandro Noce, director general for energy markets and infrastructure at the Italian Energy Ministry, spoke at a conference in Milan on Thursday, 29 October. According to the energy portal Montel News, he said Italy had spent 300 million euros filling its own storage and now pays more because Germany is buying gas. He put the current price at around 100 euros, against about 70 euros without German purchases. His argument is that gas was cheap while Germany was not ordering and rose once Europe's largest economy started buying. Those purchases follow a September order from Economy Minister Katherina Reiche, who told the state-controlled company Sefe to buy and store gas for winter, a step she had previously opposed.

Germany's economy ministry rejected the accusation on 30 October and denied that Berlin filled its storage too late. Nadia Affani of the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) locates the cause elsewhere and told DW that the price is driven by the situation in the Middle East.

“The development of gas prices is largely due to recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East.”

Since the start of the Iran war, the European gas price has more than doubled, reaching about 100 euros per megawatt hour at the end of October. Charlie Grüneberg of the industry group Gas-h2 argues that higher demand in one country can lift prices in others, as is normal in the European single market. In his view, blaming German storage levels alone oversimplifies the picture, and restricted global supply after disruptions from the Persian Gulf region is a main driver.

Record withdrawals from storage

Berliner Zeitung, citing AGSI data, reports that Germany withdrew a net 1.1 TWh on 6 November, 59 percent above the previous high for that calendar date. Within one week the fill level dropped 1.8 percentage points, about 4.4 TWh. Europe as a whole drew about 4.3 TWh gross on 5 November, roughly 31 percent above its previous peak for that day. The Federal Network Agency counted 18.1 TWh of pipeline gas and 1.5 TWh of LNG reaching Germany between 29 October and 4 November, with LNG terminals running at an average utilization of 34 percent. Because a large share of these imports flows straight to households, businesses and power plants, the overall fill level falls only slightly each day even when withdrawals hit records.

Pipeline gas18.1

LNG1.5

Pipeline gas

18.1 TWh

LNG

1.5 TWh

Data from the article text

Government sees no supply emergency

The Federal Network Agency rates the risk of a tight gas supply as low, because extra import options mean Germany no longer depends on hitting its storage targets. Under state rules, most sites should have reached at least 80 percent by 1 November, a target the current level misses. High world market prices linked to the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz make importing and storing gas barely worthwhile at present. Reiche rules out state intervention, although the state can order storage filled if targets are missed. Operators fear that gas sellers may be counting on the state buying at any price in that case, while the economy ministry notes that the European Commission judged existing stocks sufficient for a secure winter.