This underground warehouses gas Spaniards at 78% of their capacityThey almost double up on Brussels’ recommendation to have at least 40% in early spring to have a more comfortable position for next winter.
Three national warehouses—Serrablo (Huesca), Gaviota (Bizkaia) and Yela (Guadalajara)—had 27.6 terawatt hours (TWh) as of March 20, according to data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) industry association (GIE); total capacity, equivalent to 29 days of national consumption in winter.
A year ago, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was almost a month old, and Brussels had begun to warn of the need to start replenishing its gas reserves for the recently ended winter. Spain had a filling volume of 58% with 19.9 TWh.
Brussels’ decision to rapidly increase its gas reserves has caused the price of this raw material to hit all-time highs last summer, exceeding 300 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
Despite this, both in March 2022 and now Spain, warehouses are always at levels well above the European average.thanks to the diversification of suppliers, primarily the USA, and the increase in liquefied natural gas (LNG) purchases.
In the example of the European Union, reserves average 55.8% and the volume of natural gas stored reaches 626.5 TWh; This is more than double what it was a year ago, when Europe had only a quarter (25.8%) of its full reserves. With 286.9 TWh.
Spain, one of the most compatible countries
With these data, Spain ranks second. one of the most harmonized EU Member Statesits target for next winter is much more ambitious than this year and will require its European partners to fill 90% of their reserves by November.
Only Portugal -95.5%- And Sweden -95.2%- Today they exceed this European target and are also the only two countries with a higher occupancy percentage than Spain, which is the third best country in this regard.
In absolute terms, Germany (159.8 TWh), Italy (109.9 TWh) and the Netherlands (81.6 TWh) are the Member States that close the winter with most stored natural gas, but these three countries still have a margin of improvement. only 60% of their reservations are full.
Both Austria (63.9 TWh) and France (38.8 TWh) and Hungary (30.8 TWh) have more stored gas, but they do not exceed the occupancy percentage of the three national stores.
However, Spain has several regasification plants. further improve their position and they give it more flexibility As the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently warned, there may be supply problems in Europe in the coming months, especially if the Chinese economy recovers.
LNG facilities at 45%
In this sense, six regasification plants currently owned by Spain (Barcelona, Cartagena -Murcia-, Huelva, Gijón -Asturias-, Bilbao and Sagunto -Valencia-) are currently at 45% of its capacity.
This means close to 11.6 additional TWh, equivalent to two weeks of national gas consumption; this adds Spain’s buffer, underground reserves and regasification plants, bringing it to 36 to 40 days of normal winter demand.
terminals Cartagena (Murcia) and Bilbaothose with the highest regasification capacity as well as the highest percentage of occupancy to date, specifically 74% and 86%.
Gasoline price continues to fall L
In addition to the better position both Europe and Spain have for the coming winter compared to the previous year, the decline in the price of natural gas in international markets also fell below 40 euros/MWh in the Dutch TTF market this week. in Europe.
This value is much less than 300 Euro/MWh. Although it was paid off as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last summer, economic uncertainty could once again lead to market instability in the coming months.
in Spain, price fixed below 60 Euro/MWh In the Iberian Gas Market (Mibgas) since the beginning of the year, thanks to a warmer-than-normal winter and signals sent to the market by the Government, such as limiting gas.