Fill rate is lower than last year – BNetzA calms down

Federal Network Agency Comments

Gas storage: Current filling levels in Germany

11/11/2025 – 11:31Reading time: 2 minutes

Gas storage facilities on the Mülheimer Ring north of Cologne (archive image). (Source: IMAGO/dts news agency/imago)

Compared to the previous year, gas storage facilities were underfilled. Reason to worry? That’s according to the Federal Network Agency.

German gas storage facilities are currently 74.8 percent full (as of November 11, 2025). A year ago the value was 97.28 percent. At the same time, current household and commercial gas consumption exceeds the previous year’s value by nearly 165 gigawatt hours (GWh) per day, despite the temperature difference being only slight. The current additional consumption is roughly equivalent to the average annual consumption of about 8,000 households with gas heating.

In addition, not all gas storage facilities are well stocked. The largest (Rehden, Lower Saxony) was only 26.62 percent occupied. However, other locations are up to 90 percent full. So, is the situation critical?

When asked via t-online, the Federal Network Agency explained that there was no reason for concern. According to the Gas Storage Levels Act (GasSpFüllstVO), storage facilities must generally be 80 percent full by November 1 – a 45 percent filling level applies to systems in Bad Lauchstädt, Frankenthal, Hähnlein, Rehden, Stockstadt and Uelsen (§ 1 GasSpFüllstVO). Combined, this results in an average fill rate of 70 percent, the Federal Network Agency told t-online. “This is also sufficient by European standards.” Therefore, the target for all German storage facilities was met by November 1.

Authorities also noted that the supply situation in Germany has changed in recent years. “Germany has different import options. Gas quantities can be imported via pipelines (especially from Norway) and via LNG terminals.” This can prevent gas shortages and secure gas supplies. Changes in gas flows also contribute to security of supply: instead of “east/west flows”, the government now relies on “north/west flows”. Therefore, more and more gas is imported through France and Belgium and no longer through neighboring countries in the east.

Even though the situation is relatively calm, people must continue to save energy and consume natural gas consciously. “The more energy saved today, the greater the likelihood of guaranteed gas supplies,” the Federal Network Agency said.