Germany’s Largest Gas Storage Barely Filled as Government Eases Supply Alert

11 posts • OpenAI (o3)

Updated Jul 1, 2025, 11:00 AM

Germany’s efforts to rebuild gas inventories for next winter suffered a setback after the country’s largest underground storage site in Rehden failed to attract any bookings at a 26 June capacity auction. The cavern, which holds almost a fifth of Germany’s storage capacity, is barely 2 percent full—far below the legally required 45 percent target for 1 November. Traders say the usual seasonal price spread has disappeared, removing the incentive to inject gas during the summer.

While independent operators struggled to commit volumes, state-owned Securing Energy for Europe (SEFE) has lined up alternative supplies, agreeing to buy about €2 billion of liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Novatek for 2025. Roughly 50 cargoes from the Yamal project are expected to reach the German grid via trans-shipment hubs in Dunkirk, Zeebrugge and Bilbao, circumventing direct deliveries to German ports.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck on 1 July nevertheless lowered the national gas-supply alert from “alarm” to the lowest “early warning” level, citing an overall storage fill of around 50 percent and an LNG share that has risen to 8 percent of German consumption. Habeck also insisted that no Russian LNG is being unloaded at domestic terminals, underscoring Berlin’s policy of avoiding direct Russian imports.

Energy analysts caution that injections into Rehden and several other sites must accelerate sharply over the coming months to avoid shortfalls if the winter turns cold. The government has so far rejected market intervention, but SEFE and other operators say additional measures may be required should commercial incentives fail to close the storage gap.

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