According to the Gasunie, the Dutch gas stocks are back on level. In Norg, one of the most important gas stores in our country, the filling percentage is still below 50 percent. That storage was sometimes completely filled.
Yet there is a call from the Gasunie to supplement further. According to the government company, a strategic buffer is necessary to be less dependent on foreign suppliers. And although it looks good now, the gas storage in Norg is 49.2 percent filled.
For comparison, last year around this time of the year that was 59.2 percent and more than 98 percent in October, almost completely full. The last time the gas storage in Norg was completely full was in November 2023.
The underground gas storage at Norg has been playing a key role in the energy supply in the Netherlands for years. The storage is more than three kilometers in a former gas field and acts as a kind of buffer. In Norg, so -called low -calorific gas is stored, intended for use by households and small users.
The gas is stored in the summer, so that it is quickly available in the winter when demand rises. In earlier years, storage in Norg has been filled several times to the maximum capacity. This is not the case now.
Since the loss of Russian natural gas and the reduction of gas extraction in Groningen, the Netherlands is completely dependent on foreign suppliers. Gase -shaped natural gas comes in our country through pipelines, including from Norway.
In addition, liquid gas (LNG) is supplied by ship, for example from the United States or Qatar. That LNG is first converted to gas form in terminals such as in Eemshaven or Rotterdam, before it goes into the national gas network. From that network, the gas is distributed between households, companies and underground storage such as those in Norg.
The Gasunie argues for the presentation of the latest figures for building an extra gas supply, intended as a strategic reserve. That stock should remain untouched even during a cold winter. Only if several countries stop delivering at the same time does that buffer come into the picture.
The outgoing cabinet supports that idea and wants to create an emergency stock to make the Netherlands less vulnerable to geopolitical tensions or delivery problems. The required infrastructure, such as the gas stores in Norg, is already there.
In January the Gasunie warned that the stocks were going to be faster than normal. In the meantime the figures are more positive, but the situation is not self -evident. The energy situation in Europe remains sensitive to political and economic developments.
That is precisely why it remains important to continue to fill up stores as they are sufficiently filled in Norg, the Gasunie emphasizes, according to the NOS. A well -filled storage in the summer prevents the Netherlands from becoming unpleasant surprises in the winter. In the coming months, it must be apparent whether the Netherlands is actually going to fill the strategic buffer.