BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The gas storage association Ines has emphasized the importance of the facilities in the energy system at the end of the storage year. "Gas storage facilities play a crucial role in securing the energy supply, and they ensure that price risks on the trading markets remain manageable," Sebastian Bleschke, managing director of the Energy Storage Initiative (Ines), told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. Due to their large volume, he said, German storage facilities perform these functions not only for the Federal Republic, but also beyond. "Well over one-fifth of the gas storage capacity of the EU internal market is located in Germany."

The so-called storage year ends on March 31. From April onwards, more is usually stored in the storage facilities than is withdrawn.

The association assesses the economic situation of the operators as positive. Against the backdrop of potential shortages in the coming winter, storage facilities are particularly in demand, Bleschke said. "This is reflected in the current market prices and leads to a fundamentally positive outlook." However, he said, the Federal Ministry of Economics has not yet taken a clear position on what measures are planned to fill storage facilities for the coming winter. Therefore, some uncertainty remains in the market, he said.

The association is not aware of any new construction or expansion projects for commercial gas storage currently being implemented. "This is certainly also due to the fact that politicians are specifically pushing the development of LNG terminals to secure supply." In principle, he said, additional gas storage capacity is also suitable for this purpose. "We therefore think it is important for policymakers to develop a more differentiated view on this. Because while the current planning of LNG terminals is likely to lead to overcapacity, there are still too few underground storage facilities for hydrogen to implement the energy transition." But there is also a lack of a political concept for hydrogen storage, he added./tob/DP/mis