Belgium meets, like Portugal, the EU target for winter with gas reserves

According to the database on the Gas Infrastructure Europe website, the Belgian gas network operator Fluxys has filled the underground gas storage in Loenhout with 7.745 terawatt-hours (TWh) of natural gas. The storage is thus 92.1 percent full. Only Portugal performs better, with a fully filled gas reserve. For the entire EU, the gas reserves are, according to the figures from Tuesday morning at 6 AM, 72.3 percent full; this amounts to 820.48 TWh.

Most EU countries do have a larger storage capacity than Belgium, so it takes longer to fill them. Germany has the largest storage capacity, with nearly 250 TWh. There, the reserves are currently 65 percent full. Italy (83.6 percent), the Netherlands (60.8 percent), France (80.8 percent), and Austria (77.4 percent) also have significant storage capacity.

Since 2022, EU member states must fill their gas reserves to at least 90 percent by November 1 each year. This obligation was meant to ensure that they had sufficient buffers after the Russian invasion of Ukraine triggered supply issues. Gas storage facilities cover about 30 percent of consumption in winter.