Germany's Empty Gas Storage Facilities Could Push Up Gas Prices in Czechia

Germany risks failing to meet European targets for filling its gas storage facilities before winter — a shortfall that could drive up gas prices for Czech consumers as well. According to INES, an industry association representing operators of more than 90% of Germany's storage capacity, gas reserves in the country hit their lowest early-September level in 15 years of record-keeping.

"They'll find the gas somewhere in the end — Europe is rich enough to overpay for tanker shipments — but ultimately, it's us who will foot the bill," said Jiří Gavor, an analyst at ENA.

Germany is a key player in the Central European gas market, with annual consumption exceeding 800 terawatt-hours — more than ten times that of Czechia. As Jiří Matoušek, a board member at Centropol Energy, pointed out, if German traders fail to secure sufficient volumes for their customers, rising winter demand will inevitably push prices higher.

Germany Falls Short of EU Targets

A year ago at this time, German storage facilities were about 71% full. In 2025, Germany had already reached that level by late June — yet the pace of refilling has since slowed dramatically. According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, storage levels are currently rising by roughly 1% every five days. At that rate, facilities would be only 65% full by early November.

INES acknowledges that reaching around 77% by November 1 is technically possible, but doing so would require Germany to inject more gas into storage over the remaining weeks than it managed during the previous three months combined.

As a result, Germany appears set to miss the EU requirement for member states to reach 90% storage capacity between October and the end of November (with a permitted 10-percentage-point deviation under difficult conditions). Back in March, following the escalation of the war in the Middle East, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen urged member states to plan for an 80% target this year instead.

According to INES estimates, a fill level of 77% should be sufficient under normal winter conditions, but in the event of an extremely cold spell, the shortfall on certain days in January could exceed a quarter of the required volume. Czechia, Gavor noted, is in a better position and should be able to reach the necessary storage levels.

Traders' Bet Didn't Pay Off

Germany's low reserves stem from traders holding back on gas purchases due to high prices. Normally, gas is bought cheaper in summer and sold at a premium during the heating season. This year, however, prices are already high heading into winter, and the gap between summer and winter contracts is minimal — in some cases even negative.

"The price increase is linked to the need to inject gas into storage ahead of the coming winter, as well as growing concern that Germany is unlikely to fill its storage facilities to 85–90%, as Czechia has managed to do," Matoušek added.

Source: novinky.cz