MND is well prepared for the upcoming winter. The gas tanks are full

The underground natural gas storage tanks in the Czech Republic are completely full before the winter. This follows from the statements of MND Gas Storage, which is part of KKCG Group, and RWE Gas Storage CZ for ČTK. RWE Gas Storage CZ stated in the article that the total capacity of its storage facilities is 28.7 terawatt hours (TWh), which represents about a third of the total annual consumption of natural gas in the Czech Republic. You can read the whole article below.

"During the winter months, the reservoirs normally cover more than half of the natural gas supply for the whole Czech Republic. However, on extremely cold days we can extract up to 422 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas per day, which is almost two thirds to the beginning of the heating season 2020/2021," said RWE Gas Storage CZ CEO Lubor Veleba today.

The company is the largest operator of underground gas storage facilities in the Czech Republic, operating six underground storage tanks with a total operating volume of over 2.7 billion cubic meters. In Bohemia it is a reservoir in Háje in the Příbram region, then there are reservoirs in Dolní Dunajovice and Tvrdonice in southern Moravia and Štramberk, Lobodice and Třanovice in northern Moravia. Another operator of underground gas storage facilities in the Czech Republic is the company MND Gas Storage, which owns and operates two storage structures in Uhřice in the Hodonín region.

"MND is well prepared for the upcoming winter season. The storage capacities purchased to cover the consumption of our customers are full, so any increased consumption caused by cold weather will not surprise us," said Lukáš Pokrupa, Director of MND's Sales Department. According to the head of MND Gas Storage (MND GS) Karel Luner, MND GS currently has 98 percent filled underground gas storage facilities in the Czech Republic (Uhřice). In Germany (Stockstadt / Hähnlein), where it also operates storage tanks, then fully 100 percent.

Veleba stated that underground storage facilities not only play the role of an important safety insurance, but also cover seasonal differences in natural gas consumption. "This is an unique technology that requires maximum and very professional care. Every year, therefore, we invest hundreds of millions of crowns in the reliability and safety of storage tanks," he said. According to him, sufficient capacity in natural gas storage facilities is also important with regard to the expected growth in the use of gas in the heating industry and also with regard to the overall development of energy towards increasing the share of production from renewable sources.

At the beginning of September, the Energy Regulatory Office stated that gas consumption in the Czech Republic in the first half of this year fell by 1.8 percent year on year to 4.48 billion cubic meters. The decline was more pronounced in the second quarter, when consumption fell to 1.47 billion cubic meters and the year-on-year decline was 4.2 percent. According to the office, the main reason was the covid-19 pandemic and its effects.