Huge gas storage in Europe in danger of being empty

Haidach underground gas storage facility in Shirt may not be replenished for the next heating season due to a conflict between Berlin and Moscow over control of Gazprom’s subsidiary in Germany, Bloomberg reported on May 27, citing energy officials in Vienna.

The huge gas storage facility is located in Austria but is connected to the German gas network and receives Russian gas from there.

It is one of the largest gas storages in Europe, able to meet about a quarter of Austria’s annual gas needs. However, the Haidach warehouse has been vacant for some time now.

Part of this gas storage facility is owned by a subsidiary Gazprom Germania used by Gazprom. However, Russia stopped supplying gas to this facility after Berlin took control of Gazprom Germania under the framework of sanctions against Russia after the war in Ukraine.

Another part of the Haidach warehouse is used by Gazprom subsidiary GSA but has also been vacant for several months, according to German news agency Deutsche Welle.

Haidach is of strategic importance to both Austria and Germany, which have gas reserves here – by Germany pumping some of the gas from this depot back into the Tyrol and Vorarlberg regions of Austria.

In early May, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer called on Gazprom to add more gas to the depot, highlighting the strategically important Haidach depot and warning that Austria could nationalize the site.

On May 27, he repeated this call in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Nehammer warned that Gazprom will lose this storage facility if it does not fill it up and the site will be transferred to other gas suppliers.

According to Bloomberg, Vienna is busy figuring out how to refill its gas storage. However, to do it without Germany, the EU country needs to find a way to connect Haidach to Austria’s gas network, and this can be a challenge.

“From a technical point of view, the connection between the storage and the Penta West pipeline will have to be built,” said Austrian operator Gas Connect.

Penta West, the Austrian gas pipeline closest to the Haidach depot, could be extended to connect Haidach with the rest of Austria’s 900km gas network.

However, building the connection between the network and the massive gas storage could take years due to paperwork, a Bloomberg source said. In addition, the capacity of the pipeline has been fully booked by traders pumping gas to other European markets.

According to the report, Austria may also award a tender for non-Russian gas suppliers to add to Haidach depot, although multiple sources at Bloomberg insist this option has not been approved.

Austria imports about 80% Russian gas and has repeatedly noted, losing Russian gas supplies would be catastrophic for this country.