Netherlands Seeks To Scrap EU Gas-Storage Targets for 2028
The government wants gas suppliers to manage seasonal inventories and plans to keep a 5-terawatt-hour emergency reserve.
The Netherlands plans to ask the European Union to abolish mandatory gas-storage filling targets, seeking to shift responsibility for seasonal inventories from the government to gas suppliers.
The proposal is aimed at autumn 2028. If EU rules remain in place, the Dutch government is examining whether to require suppliers to manage the country’s seasonal storage needs domestically. It also plans to maintain a 5-terawatt-hour emergency reserve.
For the 2026–27 winter, the Netherlands lowered its storage target to 64%, or about 93 terawatt-hours. The government expects the target to be reached between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1, 2026, down from a previous national target of 115 TWh.
Average withdrawals from Dutch storage over the previous five winters were about 70 TWh. A Dutch parliamentary record also reserved nearly €1 billion for the state gas-filling task.
EU rules generally require storage facilities to reach 90% each year, with intermediate targets in February, May, July and September. On Sept. 3, the European Commission and member states said lower storage levels posed no immediate risk to EU gas supply.
