Today the budget committee was informed that the federal government has given the market area manager of the Trading Hub Europe GmbH (THE) about the KfW a credit line of 15 Mrd. euros to ensure that the gas storage tanks are filled. THE thus receives the necessary liquidity to be able to buy gas in particular and channel it into storage. The loan is secured by a federal guarantee. In the current situation on the gas market, this financial security is urgently needed in order to fill the gas storage tanks until winter.
The revised Energy Industry Act (EnWG), which has been in effect since April 30, 2022, essentially stipulates that the users of gas storage facilities in Germany must fill the capacities they have booked. This is to avoid vacancies. If there is no filling, the operator of the gas storage facility will make capacities available to THE as the market area manager. the THE is thus obliged to gradually fill the gas storage facilities up to 90 percent by November 1, 2022. In order to THE can already act now if it becomes apparent that individual reservoirs do not meet the requirements due to low fill levels, a more specific ministerial regulation came into force on June 2, 2022. In the past few weeks, storage in Germany’s largest gas storage facility in Rehden, which had historically low storage levels for months, was able to begin.
As of now, Rehden is 12.29% full of the original 2%.
Rehden is a first application of the new legal regulations. These can also be applied to other storage facilities with low levels.
The targets of the law must be achieved per storage facility, not just on average.
to THE: Die Trading Hub Europe GmbH (THE) is a subsidiary of eleven long-distance gas network operators and operates the German market area as the market area manager. the THE has to fulfill the main tasks of control energy management, balancing group management and operation of the virtual trading point. the THE exercises a legally provided and legitimized monopoly task and has been leading since the amendment of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) if necessary, carry out measures to fill gas storage tanks.
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