Also for the coming winter
Federal Council creates new gas reserve
Swiss gas network operators must also create a reserve of gas for next winter in case of a supply bottleneck. According to the announcement, the Federal Council extended a corresponding ordinance by one year on Wednesday.
Published: 12:15 p.m
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Updated: 12:45 p.m
Natural gas tanks of the supplier Erdgas Ostschweiz in Zurich. (archive image)
The five regional gas network operators in Switzerland must therefore ensure that the country is adequately supplied with natural gas in the event of a severe shortage in the next winter season. Specifically, it is about the period from October 2023 to April 2024.
The reserve should be at least 15 percent of the average Swiss annual consumption. This emergency reserve corresponds to around six terawatt hours.
serious risk
According to the Federal Council, there is still a “serious risk” for Switzerland in the event of a serious crisis situation across Europe. The extended reserve maintenance for next winter may not fully cover delivery failures.
“In the event of a serious supply crisis, access to the foreign storage facilities is not automatically given,” warned the Federal Council. Deliveries are only secured by a state treaty with France.
The customers pay
In mid-May last year, the Federal Council ordered the gas industry to secure storage capacities and options for additional gas supplies in Switzerland. The gas companies can pass on the additional costs arising from the obligation to provide security to the network usage fees.
Switzerland obtains almost all of its gas from abroad and has no seasonal storage facilities of its own. If gas has to be obtained immediately, the reserve held in foreign storage facilities comes into play. The EU also obliged member states without their own gas storage facilities to store 15 percent of their annual consumption in other EU countries.
(SDA)