Overview
- Officials disclosed the internally agreed plan on Tuesday and propose a 24 terawatt‑hour reserve, roughly ten percent of Germany's storage capacity, held for events like infrastructure sabotage or global supply shortfalls.
- The ministry estimates one‑off setup and gas purchase costs at €1.2–1.5 billion and annual operating costs of €150–180 million, to be recovered through a levy on gas customers rather than the federal budget.
- A cabinet decision is targeted for mid‑August with Bundestag debate planned for late September, the law aimed to take effect on 1 January 2027 and the first filling scheduled for summer 2027.
- Industry groups and storage operators warn current average fill levels of about 43 percent and weak summer price signals risk physical shortfalls in a very cold February–March 2027 that the new reserve cannot prevent.
- The plan leaves routine winter provisioning to market actors, gives the Bundesnetzagentur crisis allocation powers, and seeks to limit market distortion by stretching state purchases over several years.