This winter, NU.nl will regularly provide you with an overview of the development of the gas price, gas consumption and the filling of gas storage facilities in the Netherlands. These are last week’s numbers in three charts.
Gas prices have fallen further in the past week. Traders paid 50.57 euros for a megawatt hour. That is about 3 euros less than a week earlier. In August the gas price peaked at around 340 euros. Since then the price has been falling. The gas price even fell below 50 euros this week. That was the first time since December 2021.
The decline started because the winter is not really severe and because consumers and companies are frugal. As a result, stocks remain well filled and countries do not have to dig deep into their pockets to refill their stores.
The combination of a mild winter and relatively high energy prices also has consequences for how often we use the heater. As a result, our gas consumption – except for one cold week in December – is tens of percent lower than in other years.
Blijf op de hoogte van de gasprijs
In the past week, we used an average of 906 gigawatt hours per day, 28.5 percent less than usual for this time of year. Last week this difference was still 33.5 percent.
This lower consumption is reflected in the Dutch gas reserves. They hold up well with that lower consumption. The four gas storage facilities in the Netherlands were filled to an average of 64.1 percent on 21 February. That is 0.5 percent less than last week.
The cabinet wants the surcharges to be filled to 61.8 percent by 1 March. That goal, if you look at the changes of the past few weeks, seems to be achieved. Cold nights are predicted for next week.
