Germany adopts law on mandatory levels of gas reserves in UGS

Germany will step in if gas-storage operators fail to fill facilities sufficiently to comply with new requirements, as the government takes a tougher line to secure supplies for next winter, Report informs referring to Bloomberg.

Under the new rules - approved by the upper house of parliament on April 8 and due to take effect May 1 - operators must fill storage facilities to 90% capacity by November 1.

With gas storage 27% full now, the current daily additions of 0.3 to 0.5 percentage points mean it could take until late October to reach capacity, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on April 8 in the Bundesrat, where Germany’s 16 states are represented. If sufficient progress isn’t made over the summer, the government will take action, he said.

According to the law, storage facilities must be 80% full by October 1 and can fall to 40% by February 1. Users of the facilities must fill the storage capacities they have booked, otherwise they will be withdrawn.

As part of its effort to safeguard gas supplies, the government said this week it will temporarily take control of a German unit of Russia’s Gazprom PJSC.

Gazprom Germania GmbH - owner of energy supplier Wingas GmbH and a gas storage firm - will come under the trusteeship of the German energy regulator until September 30.