Italy’s gas storage level has reached 90%, a target which was met several weeks ahead of schedule and which was set in response to Russia’s throttling of supplies to Europe.
This was announced on Wednesday by the Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolani. ” The value allows us to now aim for an even more ambitious goal, namely a level of storage of 92 to 93%“, he explains.
Before the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February, Italy received around 40% of its natural gas from Russia. In the months that followed, Rome looked for alternatives and struck deals with suppliers from Africa and the Middle East. Currently, the Mediterranean country still receives 25% of its gas from Moscow. Italy, half of whose electricity is produced by burning gas, wants to be completely independent of supplies from Russia by 2024.
Italy is not the only European country to have built up stocks. On Monday, gas storage facilities in the European Union were indeed just under 88% full, according to storage operators. In Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, facilities have been at least 90% full since mid-September, despite Russian deliveries halting at the end of August.
