Natural gas withdrawal season begins at the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility

The unified natural gas transmission and storage system operator “Conexus Baltic Grid” AS (“Conexus”) announces the start of the 2026/2027 natural gas withdrawal season. Currently, the volume of natural gas stored at the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage (UGS) Facility amounts to nearly 12 TWh, representing approximately 72% of the capacity booked for the 2026/2027 storage cycle.

The technical capacity of the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility for this season is 24.4 TWh, of which 16.6 TWh has been booked. Currently, 12 TWh of natural gas is stored at the facility. The Inčukalns UGS plays an important role in ensuring the region’s natural gas supply during the winter season, complementing direct supplies, including deliveries from the Klaipėda and Inkoo liquefied natural gas terminals, as well as via the Gas Interconnection Poland–Lithuania (GIPL).
During the previous natural gas injection season, 77.3% of the total volume of gas entering the Latvian and Estonian natural gas transmission systems was supplied from Lithuania and 20.7% from Finland, while biomethane produced in Latvia and Estonia accounted for 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively.

To support the security and continuity of natural gas supply, the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility is technically capable of injecting natural gas also during the withdrawal season. In the coming months, natural gas withdrawal is expected to alternate with additional injection, as market participants continue natural gas deliveries throughout the autumn and winter period. This operational flexibility of the Inčukalns UGS enables more efficient use of system capacity and allows the facility to adapt to market needs.

Compared with the previous storage cycle, market participants have shown significantly greater interest in securing additional capacity to inject natural gas into the storage facility during the withdrawal season. The volume of interruptible capacity for the 2026/2027 storage cycle amounts to 220,000 MWh, compared with 45,900 MWh in the 2025/2026 cycle. Auctions for interruptible capacity will continue until 22 December 2026.