Every week NU.nl provides an overview of the development of the gas price, consumption and filling of gas storage facilities in the Netherlands. These are last week’s numbers in three charts.
The gas storages in the Netherlands are still more than three-quarters full, even though winter has been going on for some time. For several weeks now, the stock has only been falling gradually. The relatively high temperatures mean that we burn less.
The stock was at its highest on October 10, when the storages were filled to an average of 93.3 percent. Especially in the first weeks of December, the stock fell rapidly due to the cold weather, but since then relatively little gas has been flowing out of the storage facilities.
The fear that we will run out of gas this winter is slowly ebbing away. However, there are concerns about next winter. It is expected that it will become more difficult to replenish gas supplies once the heating season is over. Gas supply from Russia will be even less than last year, while demand from China is likely to increase.
As mentioned, consumption has been relatively low in recent weeks. Between 3 and 9 January, an average of 761 gigawatt hours was used. That is half of what is normal for this time of year. In addition to the weather, the high gas price will probably also cause us to be more economical with energy.
The trading price for gas hardly changed last week. On Wednesday, January 11, the date of the last update, a megawatt hour cost 65.35 euros. That was about the same as the 65.02 euros from a week earlier. Since the beginning of this year, the gas price has fluctuated around 70 euros.
At the end of August last year, the price peaked because Russia closed the gas tap even further and European countries wanted to replenish their stocks for this winter. In the autumn, the price fell sharply again. Incidentally, gas is still more expensive than was usual in the past. For a long time we only paid a few tens per megawatt hour for gas.
