The claim

Are we delivering gas to Poland because our gas storage facilities are already 100% full? Or are German gas storage facilities now empty and the Polish gas storage facilities filled by Germany, as is repeatedly shared in numerous contradictory variants?

Our conclusion

Yes, gas flows from Germany abroad, but neither the German gas storage facilities nor those in Poland are full. The rumors are false. Gas flows through Europe in a complex gas network, and there are contractual relationships with our European neighbors that Germany cannot simply break and keep their gas.

Confusingly contradictory claims? Or is it fake news? The explanation as to why gas flows abroad from Germany is quite simple.

Germany is only a stopover and not a natural gas exporter

Different claims about the level of gas storage are being shared on social media platforms. Apparently the German storage facilities are either 100% full or almost empty because we would deliver gas to Poland.

Screenshot Facebook
Screenshot Facebook

“Of course something like this isn't shown on the daily show:
Polish gas storage facilities 100 percent full...
...with gas from Germany. While gas prices in the Federal Republic of Germany are exploding due to a lack of available gas, it is being exported from the Federal Republic of Germany to Poland. In addition, Putin is said to have offered to compensate for the contractually agreed gas delivery volume to Nord Stream 1, which was throttled by sanctions, via Nord Stream 2. “However, that was rejected.”

Text of the shared SharePic

The facts

To understand how gas is distributed, it is necessary to take a closer look at the gas network in Europe, as it is similar to the electricity network. Just like the high-voltage lines and substations of the power grid, there is a widely networked gas network with pipelines over a meter thick. These extend from the production areas deep in Russia to the Iberian Peninsula and also supply gas from Scandinavia to Italy, with a 225,000 kilometer long labyrinth of tubes.

Source: bdew.de
Source: bdew.de

The gas is transported in these pipes at a pressure of up to 200 bar, 100 times higher than in a car tire. Compressor stations at intervals of 80 to 160 kilometers maintain the pressure. The German gas network includes 47 gas storage facilities and has the largest natural gas storage volume in the European Union.

You can read about the filling level of the storage facilities here: Gas Infrastructure Europe

Germany is a stopover for foreign gas. Gas that arrives in Germany via the pipelines is temporarily stored in German storage facilities and some of it flows on to other EU countries. The gas coming primarily from Russia or Norway counts as gas imports. If the gas is forwarded, it counts as export.

Almost 35 percent of the gas network flowing into Germany is sold abroad on the European stock exchanges. That's almost 500 terawatt hours of natural gas. Germany has a storage capacity of 160,000 terawatt hours of natural gas, Poland only 35,000.

Within the EU there is a free market with complex long-term contractual relationships. Poland also receives Russian natural gas through these same transmissions, even though Poland is boycotted by Russia when it comes to gas deliveries.

Conclusion

If Germany unilaterally broke contracts and withheld the gas, there would actually be a third more gas available to fill the German gas storage facilities, which are only half full of their own gas.

Such a breach of contract, where Germany withholds gas from other countries, cannot be implemented within the EU. Our neighboring countries are also dependent on gas deliveries. The global supply chains, on which we also depend, would come to a standstill. The fake photo also shows Hamburg's Köhlbrandhöft sewage treatment plant and no natural gas storage facilities. The sewage sludge digests in the ten egg-shaped digester tanks to produce digester gas.


Update: July 29, 2022 Michael Tabel

Poland does not get its gas primarily from Germany

Poland has so far obtained over half of its natural gas from Russia.

Only a fifth came from Germany. The Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment explained that the gas in the Polish storage facilities comes from different sources. Poland produces almost four billion cubic meters of its own natural gas. A large part of the Polish gas comes from the Polish terminal for liquid natural gas (LNG) Świnoujście, east of the island of Usedom. There, Poland receives supplies from Qatar, the USA and the international market where gas is auctioned. Half of France's nuclear power plants, 28 of the 56 reactors, had to be taken offline for safety reasons. Currently France is an electricity importer. At the same time, Germany uses natural gas to generate electricity, even though it wants to save natural gas. Ukraine is offering the EU its nuclear power for supply to the European power grid, as economic production there is almost idle due to the war and this surplus electricity is currently not needed there. Ukraine has been connected to the European power grid since spring. Ukraine is already sending electricity to Poland and Moldova. If the current amount of gas delivered remains, experts believe a filling level of 90% is possible.

This might also be of interest: Alternatives to gas heating

Source: Spiegel , Abendblatt , NTV , RND , Tagesschau
Article image: Screenshot Facebook


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )