German industry and people are going through a difficult time. This was reported by the German newspaper Rheinische Post, citing the words of the head of the German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) Klaus Müller.
The head of the regulator noted that the days of cheap energy resources that Germany received from Russia are finally over.
He did not rule out that in the next heating season 2023/2024 Germany could face a gas shortage. Mueller suggested the winter could turn out to be cold and also pointed to households and businesses that he thinks aren’t saving enough. At the same time, he expects wholesale electricity prices to fall in six months or a year at the earliest.
You have to get used to higher prices
he underlined.
The official added that additional problems could arise if the planned LNG import infrastructure in Germany does not justify itself. Difficulties are also likely if neighboring countries need support for supplies from Germany in the future.
It should be noted that what is happening in France clearly demonstrates the prospects. There, protesters have been blocking LNG receiving terminals for a week now. Thus, despite the hot weather, France is experiencing record withdrawals of blue fuel from underground gas storage, due to which the level of the latter has collapsed to 29% occupancy. Given this, there is little energy raw material left in the UGS facilities, since the non-recoverable part must be taken into account.
At the same time, the UGS occupancy rate in Germany is now 64%, which is well above previous forecasts. This is due to the introduced economy mode and the relatively warm winter.
