Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action announces early warning level of the Emergency Plan for Gas – security of supply still ensured

The Emergency Plan for Gas of the Federal Republic of Germany is based on the “SOS” Regulation, i.e. Regulation (EU) 2017/1938 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2017 concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply. It defines three warning levels, depending on the degree to which state intervention is required.

1. Early warning level At this first level, a crisis team of officials and energy suppliers is convened at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The gas suppliers and the gas grid operators are required to make regular assessments of the situation for the Federal Government. However, the state does not intervene at this stage. Rather, gas traders and suppliers, long-distance and distribution grid operators take market-based measures to maintain the gas supply. These include the use of flexibility on the procurement side, the use of stored gas, the optimisation of load flows and the calling up of external balancing energy.
2. Alert level At the alert level, the market players remain responsible for action to mitigate the situation. The measures cited in level 2 can be taken by the market players. Once again, these include the use of flexibility on the procurement side, the use of stored gas, the optimisation of load flows and the calling up of external balancing energy.
3. Emergency level If the measures at early warning or alert level are not sufficient, or if there is a permanent deterioration in the supply situation, the Federal Government can issue an ordinance declaring the emergency level. In this case, there is “exceptionally high gas demand, significant disruption of gas supply or other significant deterioration of the gas supply situation”. At this point, the state intervenes in the market. More specifically, this means that the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency) becomes the “federal load distributor”. It is then responsible for distributing gas in close coordination with the grid operators. Specific consumer groups enjoy special protection under the law, i.e. wherever possible they must be supplied with gas until the end. These protected consumers include households, welfare institutions like hospitals, and gas-fired power stations which also provide households with heat.

At present, the security of the gas supply is ensured. There is no supply bottleneck. The announcement of the early warning level has led to the formation of a crisis team in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy which consists of the relevant federal and Länder authorities and the energy suppliers, and which regularly monitors the situation.

In order to be prepared for potential risks, including geopolitical tensions, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy therefore decided to maintain the early warning level under Article 11 of the EU Regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply. The crisis team is monitoring the current situation in the gas grid very closely.

Enlarge: Structure of the crisis team

The members of the gas crisis team include representatives of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, representatives of the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency), the market area managers for gas and the long-distance gas grid operators, and they are supported by representatives of the Länder. The gas crisis team meets regularly in order to monitor the situation on the gas market in the light of daily reports from the long-distance gas grid operators and the market area managers, and to advise the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The operators of the long-distance and distribution gas grids will take network-specific and market-specific measures in line with their responsibility in accordance with sections 16 and 16a of the Energy Industry Act. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is in permanent contact with the European Commission.

The announcement of the early warning level does not immediately change anything for the consumers. The security of supply is guaranteed. There are no supply bottlenecks at present.

Even in the unlikely event of supply shortages, households and welfare institutions like hospitals enjoy special protection. This means that their supply continues to be maintained, even if there is a shortage of gas.