Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Germany can spend the winter “comfortably” despite the lack of Russian gas.
Germany is on track to reach 95 percent reserve capacity by November.
Gas storage in Germany is more than 90 percent full, according to data published by the Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI), a European energy data platform.
The German government has planned to fill 95 percent of the deposit capacity by November. The storage is seen as essential for Germany to get through the winter without Russian gas imports.
“If everything goes well, we have high savings in Germany and if we have a bit of luck with the weather, we will have a chance to spend the winter comfortably. However, this means that at the end of winter the warehouses will be empty again, in this case really empty, because we will use the gas”, said Habeck.
Germany is looking for alternative sources of gas
Russia supplied about 40 percent of the European Union’s gas before the military invasion of Ukraine in February.
In early September, Russian energy giant Gazprom said gas shipments to Western Europe via the Nord Stream II pipeline were completely halted, citing equipment problems. The German government accused Moscow of “back-weaponizing” gas supplies in response to Berlin’s support for Ukraine and EU sanctions.
Moscow has not given any deadline for when the gas pipeline will be put into operation again.
Germany also receives natural gas through pipelines from Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. Germany plans to sign liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts in the United Arab Emirates over the weekend.
The French Energy Regulator (CRE) said natural gas exports to Germany could begin in October. Construction of one of Germany’s new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals will also begin this week.