Romania has filled its gas storage facilities by 79%

MOSCOW, 14 Sep — PRIME. Romania has filled underground gas storage facilities by 79%, the authorities are working to provide the country with gas and electricity in the coming winter, said the head of the Romanian Ministry of Energy, Virgil Popescu.

“Every day at the ministry we provide natural gas reserves – I think that today they exceed 79% of the storage volume,” the minister said on the radio station Radio Romania.

According to him, the Ministry of Energy is also monitoring the level of electricity production in Romania – now the indicators are at a level sufficient for the upcoming winter period. The coming winter brings with it very big problems due to the uncertainty with the supply of Russian gas, so consumers should be careful about energy issues, Popescu stressed.

According to the rules approved by the EU, gas storage facilities must be filled with at least 80% by November 1 of this year. On July 20, the European Commission proposed a regulation to reduce gas consumption in the European Union, which was agreed on July 26 by EU energy ministers with a number of amendments. They then reached a political agreement to voluntarily reduce natural gas demand by 15% between August 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023.

States will be able to choose ways to save money themselves. The draft regulation approved by them also provides for the possibility of issuing an “alliance warning” about security of supply. If the countries jointly approve this “warning”, demand reduction will become mandatory in the EU.

At the same time, exceptions and opportunities are provided for requesting deviations from mandatory goals when they are established in the union. In particular, exemptions apply to the island states of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, and may be granted to the Baltic States.