Natural gas withdrawal season starts at Inčukalns underground gas storage

The Single System Operator for Natural Gas Transmission and Storage Conexus Baltic Grid JSC (Conexus) informs that at the end of the 2021/2022 natural gas injection season, 17.4 TWh of natural gas has been put into storage by users. Today, 15 October, the natural gas withdrawal season has started.

Reaching 80% of the maximum active natural gas stored in storage, the volume of natural gas placed in storage is higher than in the 2017-2019 storage cycles. Over the past three years, Latvia's average consumption during the heating season has been 8.5 TWh, so the amount of natural gas in the Inčukalns underground gas storage is considered sufficient for the heating season in Latvia.

At the same time, it should be taken into account that the natural gas withdrawal season will be directly influenced by weather conditions, as well as that the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility is a regional storage facility serving the markets of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland, as well as - in some cases - the Russian Federation.

Conexus also continues to fulfil all its statutory obligations to ensure the safe and uninterrupted use of the system by concluding contracts for the storage of 2 350 000 MWh at the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility in accordance with Regulation 312 of the Cabinet of Ministers "Procedure for the supply of energy users and sale of fuel during a declared energy crisis and in case of national emergency". The Regulations provide for the storage of a certain volume of natural gas in the storage facility from the beginning of the withdrawal season until 1 March 2022.

The storage capacity is currently being reinforced by an ongoing investment programme until 2030, part of which is being implemented with EU co-financing. The project at the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility is expected to contribute to improving the security of natural gas supply, the technical feasibility of the operation, as well as to facilitate integration into the international energy market.