Europe prepares for a hard winter

Amid all the doom and gloom, there is at least some positive news in that European countries have been able to fill gas storage ahead of schedule. The European Commission has asked member states to fill reserves up to at least 80% by 1 November. Most countries have already reached that level well ahead of time. Overall, Europe is currently at 80.2%, which is about two months ahead of time.

This means that the EU has chosen to pay a high price to achieve sufficient gas supply ahead of the winter. At the same time, it is no guarantee that shortages will not happen. As Europe still relies on further imports in the winter months, there is a chance that a cold winter still results in shortages. If these shortages occur, it will be at the end of the winter. However, it currently also looks as if energy supply issues could go beyond this winter into next.

While countries are filling their national gas reserves, governments are looking into ways to tackle or at least mitigate the impact of higher energy prices on consumers and corporates. Measures differ between countries, both in terms of magnitude and nature. We provide an overview of the current state of play below and expect more measures to be announced in the coming weeks.