Poland is entering winter with a 91% gas supply. “Reference point” for Berlin

The Berliner Zeitung daily pointed out that Polish gas storage facilities are much more full than German ones. He emphasized that Poland, despite smaller storage capacities, is one of the EU countries best prepared for winter and is an important point of reference.

“Gas storage: Poland enters winter with 91% reserve – why not Germany?” – asks the Berlin daily in its headline on Thursday.

“Berliner Zeitung” emphasized that German warehouses are entering the heating season with the lowest level of inventories in years. According to data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) association, as of November 30, they were only 67.14% full, while a year ago at this time they were almost 90%.

The Berlin daily assessed that the situation was much better in Poland, pointing out that it was one of the EU countries best prepared for the upcoming winter, reaching approximately 91%. filling gas storage facilities. – As an industrial country, also affected by limited supplies from Russia, it constitutes an important comparison with Germany. Although Polish warehouses are much smaller than German ones, 91 percent filling corresponds to “only” 33.1 TWh of natural gas – we read in “Berliner Zeitung”.

Experts explain that this result is the result of strategic purchases and consistent diversification by Poland. Claudia Kemfert from the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) noted that Polish warehouses are smaller and more controlled by the state, which makes it easier to fill them. – Poland made purchases in a timely and strategic manner, set mandatory stock levels and consistently diversified its gas portfolio after suspending supplies from Russia, Kemfert noted. She added that Germany has larger warehouses and “a more market-based filling process that works slower.”

“Berliner Zeitung” also drew attention to the Polish infrastructure, which – as the newspaper points out – from 2022 consistently focuses on diversification. – Firstly: the LNG terminal in Świnoujście regularly supplies imported amounts of gas to the country. Secondly: through the Baltic Pipe, Poland receives stable gas supplies from Norway. Thirdly: unlike Germany, Poland is not a large transit country; most of the imports remain in its own system. This creates an image of storage that is less dependent on the market and more on the logic of security, the newspaper emphasized.

– In Germany, private traders usually store gas when the so-called the summer-winter spread is large enough. However, this year the price difference between summer and winter gas was so small that early storage was not profitable, said Berliner Zeitung.

The German Ministry of Economy is considering creating a state-owned, strategic gas reserve to be replenished regardless of prices, similarly to Poland, while abolishing storage obligations for private companies.. This indicates the need for a more reliable system and possible greater summer storage in the future, the daily concluded.

From Berlin Iwona Weidmann (PAP)

ipa/mal/