The German government has lowered the gas supply security level to early warning grade from alarm level as supply bottlenecks eased, Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said on Tuesday.
Berlin had declared the alert level in June 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a sudden drop in gas imports from Moscow. Germany no longer imports pipeline-based gas from Russia and no Russian liquefied natural gas arrives in its LNG terminals, Reiche said, Reuters reported.
She said Germany’s gas supply was secure and the conditions for the alert level according to its emergency plan no longer existed. Reiche added that given the stable situation, it was not necessary for the government to refill the country’s gas storage facilities through its trading hub.
The early warning level, the first of three crisis levels, will remain in place for the government to keep a close eye on the supply situation.
“The market is still able to cope with this disruption or demand without the need for non-market-based measures,” Reiche told journalists at a news conference in Berlin.
Germany’s gas storage levels are around 50% below levels of previous years but storage activity has increased significantly, she said. While gas prices have stabilized at around 34 euros per megawatt hour, this is still twice as high as before the energy crisis stirred by the war in Ukraine.
