Czech Gas Storage Facilities are 90% Full Without Russia

Czech gas storages are already 90% full for the upcoming heating season, while not a single cubic metre of natural gas has been supplied from Russia.

This was reported by Novinky.

The filling of gas storage facilities is facilitated by regular supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Dutch terminal Eemshaven. In the first half of this year, the terminal there handled 12 LNG ships destined for the Czech Republic, according to the ČEZ energy group.

According to Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE AGSI), Czech underground gas storage facilities were 89.9% full as of Saturday, 22 July. On the same day last year, they were almost 78% full.

With a total capacity of almost 29 TWh out of the 36.9 TWh available for the entire Czech Republic, RWE Gas Storage's tanks play a central role in the winter supply. RWE's storage facilities are currently almost 88 per cent full.

The Eemshaven plant can process up to eight billion cubic metres of gas per year, of which three billion are destined for the Czech Republic, representing more than a third of the Czech Republic's annual consumption.

"The Eemshaven terminal is the first LNG terminal to start operating in Europe after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and it makes a significant contribution to strengthening Czech and European energy security. I am pleased that the terminal is fulfilling its purpose and that the LNG tankers are being handled quickly," said Josef Sikela, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

"Gas reservoirs in the Czech Republic are now more than 89% full, even though we are not currently receiving gas from Russia," the minister added.

Part of the contractual agreement for the supply of LNG from the Netherlands is a condition that no gas will be imported from Russia. The vast majority of gas comes from the United States, according to ČEZ.

In addition to LNG supplies, the Czech Republic also receives pipeline gas from Norway.

The Eemshaven terminal was launched on 15 September last year. ČEZ purchased the terminal's capacity for five years, until September 2027.

Earlier, the Czech government said that for the first time in history, it had gotten rid of its dependence on Russian gas.

"For the first time in the modern history of the Czech Republic, we completely did without gas supplies from Russia during the first quarter of this year. This is a great success. I don't know of any other country that has managed to get rid of almost 100% dependence on gas imports from Russia year after year. Reducing consumption has played a crucial role," said Josef Sikela.

According to him, the reduction in gas consumption by 13.6% compared to last year and by 19.7% compared to the average consumption over the past three years played an important role in this.

As a reminder, Eurostat data as of early July showed that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU significantly reduced the share of oil and gas imports from Russia.