Netherlands having trouble filling its gas reserves, Gasunie warns

Filling the gas storage facilities in the Netherlands is proving difficult, Gasunie has warned. Intervention will be needed in the coming weeks to meet the storage target for winter, CEO Jeroen Zanting said during a technical briefing for members of parliament on security of supply. The sharp increase in gas prices linked to the conflict involving Iran has made it less appealing for companies to buy and store gas at current market rates.

Zanting warned that by late June or early July, Dutch gas storage sites could be filling at such a slow pace that the country risks missing its winter target. Under current rules, gas reserves must reach 87 percent capacity by November 1, the end of the storage season.

Zanting proposed that the government expand the role of Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) in purchasing gas for the state. He also pointed to the option of subsidies for energy companies to help fill storage facilities, similar to measures used in 2022 and 2023.

Private companies are mainly responsible for filling gas storage sites, but EBN can step in if they fall short. At present, EBN has a filling target of up to 80 terawatt hours (TWh), significantly higher than the 25 TWh assigned last year.

The director for gas transactions at EBN, Nicolien Vrisou van Eck, warned in the same briefing that government gas purchases should not further drive up gas prices. “We must handle our storage task carefully. If we start buying at maximum levels now, it will have an effect on market prices. We obviously want to avoid that,” she said.

The filling season began in early April, but gas storage levels are currently only around 12 percent. Zanting reiterated Gasunie’s proposal to create a strategic gas reserve for emergency situations in which gas supplies to the Netherlands are severely disrupted or cut off for an extended period. He said such a system would be best organised at EU level. Decisions, he stressed, need to be taken quickly, adding that “it is not simple; it is complex.”