PARIS: France is at risk of gas shortages during cold snaps in the coming winter due to low stock levels, gas transport operators GRTgaz and TIGF said in their winter outlook on Wednesday, urging sector operators to increase their current stocks.
Rapid deliveries of natural gas to the grid would be essential to ensure security of supply to consumers in the event of prolonged cold periods next winter if the underground gas storage usage is not increased, the operators said.
About 79.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) of storage capacity have been reserved to date, compared with between 111 and 114 TWh at the start of winter in the three previous years, GRTgaz - a unit of French energy group Engie - and TIGF said.
Storengy, another Engie subsidiary which develops and operates gas storage facilities, said in April that less that 50 percent of its storage facility in France had been reserved for the coming winter.
In the last winter of 2016 and 2017, France suffered tight supplies during a prolonged cold snap.
A 'force majeure' disruption in Algeria cut liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to the south, while an increase in gas use for electricity generation due to nuclear reactor outages took reserves to their lowest levels.
GRTgaz and TIGF said a significant and steady supply of LNG throughout winter would be essential to quickly respond to gas demand for heating and electricity during cold spells.
"The low number of cargoes unloaded at French LNG terminals up until early February 2017, particularly in the south of France, coupled with an early drawdown of stocks, has led to alerts being issued five times more than in previous years," the operators said.
French gas suppliers are legally obliged to import and store gas to meet demand and guarantee the security of supply during the cold winter months. They must reserve storage, and start injecting gas into storages months in advance, as the overall process is slow.
However, low prices and the narrowing of the spread between winter and summer prices has wiped out their margins, making it unprofitable to buy and store gas for winter.
A planned reform of the French gas storage sector collapsed last year, leaving suppliers with little incentive to continue to pay for storage.
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