Germany has almost compensated for the loss of Russian gas deliveries thanks to a steep rise in imports from Norway, The Netherlands and Belgium, after Moscow cut gas supplies last year over Western support for Ukraine.
Between 2017 and the end of February 2022, Germany imported an average of 77 terawatt hours of natural gas per month, minus exports, which was used to cover national consumption and to fill storage facilities, according to an internal document by the German Federal Network Agency seen by dpa.
In contrast, net imports from September 2022 to the end of January - meaning excluding Russian gas deliveries - stood at 72.7 terawatt hours per month.
In addition, Germany received some 4 terawatt hours of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via the new LNG terminals on the German coasts in January. According to the Federal Network Agency, that means the country consumed around 1,000 terawatt hours of natural gas in 2021.
An average of 26 terawatt hours of natural gas per month arrived in Germany from Norway between 2017 to the end of February 2022, according to the document. Following the Russian cuts, this amount rose to 41 terawatt hours.
Meanwhile, net imports from the Netherlands increased from 2 to 25 terawatt hours, while gas flows from Belgium rose from around 2 terawatt hours to around 23 terawatt per month on average from September.
The figures also show a significant drop in German natural gas exports, for example to Switzerland.
The Federal Network Agency continues to rate Germany's gas supply as "stable."
