Dutch Gas Storage at 50%

Dutch gas storage hit 50% of its capacity over the weekend based on Gascade data, 2 months ahead of the milestone in 2021 as the Dutch government races to fill it to at least 80% by winter.

• The Dutch government is aiming to fill it’s Bergermeer facility, which is partly owned by Gazprom, to 68% by winter. Gazprom did not fill the site at all in 2021.
• The Netherlands is at phase one of its gas emergency crisis plan which in part has spurred a move towards higher volumes of coal to be burned at power stations. A cap was lifted last week which restricted Dutch gas power production from coal at 35%.
• Germany, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and more recently France, have all signaled an intent to burn more coal to preserve gas. A swathe of EU countries have issued alerts on their gas supply from Russia in recent weeks, triggering actions such as emergency use of coal.