European Commission eases requirements for Czech gas storage, allowing lower February filling level

The European Commission has set the amount of gas that individual member states must have stored in gas storage facilities on their territory during 2024. It lowered the mandatory February volume for the Czech Republic by five percentage points. Czech gas storage facilities will therefore only need to be filled to 40% of their storage capacity. 

During the energy crisis, the European Commission adopted several measures to strengthen the energy security of the EU-27. One of the first measures was the obligation for member states to ensure that storage facilities were 90% full before the heating season, by 1 November.

To prevent a rush to meet the 1 November target before the end of winter, the European Commission set several milestones during the year, at which it sets interim targets. These are set for 1 February, May, July and September. The European Commission determines the percentage of gas that must be stored at each milestone separately for each year, based on historical data from the previous five years.