Dutch gas depots were fuller than ever last summer; an average of about 90 percent full. This ensures that we don’t have to worry about whether there will be enough gas available this winter. But next winter?
“It will be exciting,” admits Lucia van Geuns, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic Studies in The Hague. “In 2022 we managed to fill up our gas depots, our reserves, because there was still a lot of Russian gas.”
But that share of Russian gas is rapidly declining. According to Gasunie’s calculations, between 2019 and 2021, an average of 35% of all gas purchased by Europe came from Russia. When the Netherlands started filling storage facilities in April, it was just 28 percent, and now it’s down even more to 5-8 percent. No one dares to predict whether this will be achieved in 2023.
Liquid gas
Europe and the Netherlands must therefore diligently look for alternatives. Van Geuns: “Most of it actually comes from LNG, so liquefied gas. That liquefied gas is also needed in other parts of the world. That gas is available, but maybe not enough. And there is a problem for the winter of 2023.”
Additionally, China, which was still largely shut down last year and therefore still had gas, is phasing out the same coronavirus measures, meaning even less gas will be available to other countries, Van Geuns sees.
Measures
The government shares the concerns. Last summer, for example, a new floating LNG terminal was built in Eemshaven in record time. This will allow the Netherlands to import more LNG. The possibility of constructing an additional building or two in Terneuzen is also being investigated, Minister Jetten recently wrote in the House of Representatives.
Furthermore, Jetten wants to ensure that the gas deposits are full enough again next winter. He has already announced a grant scheme to ensure that the state-owned company EBN will take care of it.
Gas that is already in storage facilities should also be used as little as possible. Instead, Jetten wants EBN to buy gas that is now being exported to Europe for resale.
Long-term contracts
But whether that will be enough remains to be seen. That’s why MPs want more shares, like VVD member Silvio Erkens: “The most important thing is to conclude long-term contracts to bring natural gas here,” he says.
“I would say myself, look at Norway, they have offered it. If we, like the Netherlands, together with Germany, for example, were willing to conclude a contract with them for 10 or 15 years, they would also be willing to reduce those prices even more than what we pay now.”
savings
But that’s not the only solution. Because although the Netherlands already used about 25 percent less gas last year than in previous years, more savings are probably needed.
“The less gas is consumed now, the less it will be necessary to buy next summer to fill the depots,” says Lucia van Geuns.
GroenLinks MP Suzanne Kröger believes Jetten is overlooking easy measures. “In Germany they say simply: after ten in the evening, light up the advertisement, the stove in public buildings at 19 degrees and keep the doors of the shops closed. Very simple and practical measures. As for me, the minister is really going to work with that “.
And saving is also extremely important, because prices will still skyrocket next winter.
