Cabinet Wants Private Companies to Pay More Towards Gas Storage - DutchNews.nl
The plan would require suppliers to hold winter reserves as the state-backed operator faces a €1 billion loss.
- The Dutch government wants to make private companies responsible for storing gas for the winter to cut its liabilities as prices on the markets soar.
- Filling four gas storage facilities in Norg, Grijpskerk, Bergermeer, and Alkmaar currently costs Energie Beheer Nederland roughly €1 billion due to soaring gas prices.
- The Netherlands reduced its seasonal gas storage target from 74% to 64% last week, with current storage levels at 57.5%, though private firms lack commercial incentives to stock up.
- Officials aim to mandate reserves for companies such as Essent, Eneco, and Vattenfall, a shift made necessary because The Netherlands ended Slochteren field production two years ago.
- Under EU-set rules, the government cannot retain stored gas for domestic use, requiring exports to other member states; officials argue seasonal storage remains an "essential element of supply guarantee in the portfolio of suppliers' prospectuses.
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Experts and Members of Parliament have urged the establishment of strategic gas reserves in recent months. That is not free, the Cabinet replies in a letter to Parliament. The size of the emergency reserve is now up to the House of Representatives.
The Netherlands wants to abolish mandatory filling percentages for gas storage. The world and the market have changed to such an extent that it is no longer practical and unnecessarily expensive to replenish gas reserves in the summer and deplete them in the winter. However, to ensure resilience, the state does intend to build up a larger emergency gas reserve.
Reformatorisch Dagblad
Gas suppliers should be required to maintain gas reserves for the winter, the cabinet believes. Currently, the government itself is still responsible for these gas reserves, but Climate Minister Stientje van Veldhoven (D66) wants to place that responsibility with the market, she writes in a letter to the House of Representatives.
Energy companies must become responsible for filling the gas storage facilities themselves, the cabinet writes in a letter to the House of Representatives. These seasonal gas storage facilities ensure sufficient gas during cold winters. The government should limit itself to a so-called strategic reserve stock for emergency situations, the cabinet says. Currently, the government is filling the seasonal gas storage facilities in Norg and Grijpsker…
Netherlands Pushes to Scrap EU Gas Storage Mandate After $1.14 Billion Bill
The Netherlands considers that the current EU system of gas storage targets ahead of winter is inadequate and burdens governments that have to pay for meeting the EU-wide obligations. The Dutch government has already spent almost $1.14 billion (1 billion euros) this summer season alone on building up inventories, while this task should fall mostly on the gas market participants, Climate Minister Stientje van Veldhoven said in a letter to Parliam…
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