(Montel) The European Union must ensure that its gas storages will be at least 50% full on average on February 1, 2025, five percentage points more than the target set for last February, according to the official journal of the EU published on Friday.
The interim targets for February, May, July and September aim to help the EU regularly inject gas into its underground storages during the summer to ensure they are at least 90% full on average by 1 November 2025.
The European Commission said the interim targets of February 1 and May 1, 2025 were important to ensure security of supply next year, particularly in view of the agreement expiring at the end of the year transit of Russian gas through Ukraine.
The EU executive has also judged that a filling target of around 30% for the 1is May was enough to reach 90% by November.
The Commission, however, urges governments to strive to reach 45% fullness by May 1 to facilitate the filling of storage in the event of an increase in demand and/or a reduction in supply during the summer.
These targets are part of the gas storage rules that the European Union adopted in 2022 in response to the collapse of pipeline supplies from Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine.
The filling of EU gas storages reached more than 95% as of November 1 this year, exceeding the target of 90% for that date, and currently stands at 86.7% of their capacity, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.
