Two cold waves swept across the nation in quick succession, pushing natural gas consumption far beyond what models for normal weather would predict. Enagás, the operator of Spain’s gas system, activated exceptional operations twice a month to cope with the heightened demand from homes and businesses as air temperatures dropped.
The sharp rise in gas use, coupled with lower injections into storage tanks, forced operators to draw down accumulated reserves more quickly. Underground warehouses reduced their stocks to 28.1 TWh, with padding dipping to 79.7 percent by March 5, according to Enagás records.
Spain has exhausted about 15 percent of its gas reserves in the wake of successive cold surges late last year and early this year. Deposit replenishment fell below 80 percent for the first time in seven months, a drop that stands out in the EU’s broader strategy to shield its energy supply from disruption amid volatile Russian gas flows.
Three Spanish underground tanks reached occupancy levels above 96.6 percent, peaking at 34 TWh in November, which led Enagás to delay some gas injections into the network. Stocks have shed about a quarter of their winter peaks. By the end of January, with persistent cold, Spain’s storage fell to roughly 32 TWh, and by the second cold spell at the end of February, the level slipped below 80 percent, hovering around 28 TWh.
Even as utilization of storage capacity declined, Spain remained among the EU leaders in storage fullness, averaging roughly 59 percent of continental storage capacity.
Meanwhile, the regasification plants showed a stricter fill rate, staying under 46 percent with total capacity under 10.5 TWh as of March 5. Reserves, around 16.3 TWh and 72 percent occupied on January 21, stood in sharp contrast to the peak occupancy of 18 TWh and over 80 percent that had been reached in November.
rapidly increasing consumption
Enagás consistently states that the current stock levels still allow for a secure supply of the Spanish gas system, even as reserves shrink and forecast revisions become necessary to reflect the higher demand caused by the cold waves.
During the most recent cold spell, Enagás activated the extraordinary operating state of the gas system from January 22 to February 4. Records show that gas demand during those ten days deviated by more than 13 percent from executive forecasts for a normal weather scenario, with consumption running 934 GWh above early estimates. The system operator reviews these figures daily.
In the new extraordinary scenario announced after the latest cold spell from February 26 to March 4, demand rose by about 1,695 GWh in a single week, a deviation of roughly 41 percent from the prior week. Analysts note that Enagás was already preparing for adverse weather conditions.
anti-Putin armor
The European Union has pursued a strategy to reduce its heavy dependence on Russian gas. The bloc has moved to secure its energy supply for this winter and beyond, aiming to minimize exposure to Moscow’s disruptions.
Brussels proposed a plan to create a shield against potential supply shocks, which includes progressively filling member states’ gas storage. The objective is for each country’s storage to exceed 80 percent of capacity by November 1 of the current year, with stores above 90 percent from November through 2026. While many member states have surpassed their targets, the continent’s gas stocks varied in mid-winter as higher consumption pressed storage levels higher, even as winter temperatures remained severe.
Spain moved quickly at the outset of the Ukraine conflict to build its own protection against supply risks. Earlier measures increased the safety stock obligations for gas suppliers from about 20 days of firm consumption to 27.5 days, aligning with the broader EU push to strengthen energy security.