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Dear readers,
in our last newsletter of 2024, we want to look back on the past year and, of course, not forget to look ahead.
Let's start with the current supply situation. Unfortunately, Russia's war in Ukraine is still a fixed topic in the news, like the “Süd-Ost-Tangente” the main motorway through Vienna on traffic radio. Of course, we are also concerned with the question of how gas transit through Ukraine will continue at the end of the year, as the transit contracts are due to expire. The volatile gas prices have long been a sign of uncertainty, with prices at the Austrian gas hub CEGH recently rising to almost EUR 50/MWh, although they have recently fallen again slightly. Nevertheless, the price level is still very high. High energy prices are not only a major challenge for households. Industry and commerce are also groaning, as they are partly in global competition. In the USA, natural gas currently costs only a quarter of what it does in the EU.
We will be monitoring the situation very closely beyond the turn of the year and will provide you with the latest information via our daily situation report, but also via LinkedIn. Here again is an invitation to follow AGGM on LinkedIn and stay up to date!
The reassuring news is that domestic gas storage facilities are currently around 81% full at around 82 TWh. If imports via Ukraine are cancelled, import capacities from Italy (268 GWh/d via TAG) and Germany (245 GWh/d via Gas Connect Austria pipelines) will be available. Unfortunately, the diversification of supply routes from Germany has been hampered since October 2022 by the gas storage levy, which is contrary to EU law. At least there is movement to abolish it, hopefully clarity will actually be created in the German Bundestag on 20 December. Read more in the following article.
However, we have also implemented a number of measures for the energy transition in the pipeline this year.
We have updated our H2-Roadmap for Austria. The total demand for hydrogen and methane has remained roughly the same, but the current version 2.0 now includes feedback and demand reports from all nine federal states. We presented this new version of our H2-Roadmap 2.0 at our AGID on 5 November 2024.
On behalf of the BMK, we have also planned a CO2 collection network for Austria. This is intended to collect the remaining carbon dioxide emissions from production and combustion processes and transport them for use or storage. --> More on this below.
Our inGRID has also been given a new look and can now handle CO2 as well as biomethane and hydrogen. Try it out at: https://ingrid.aggm.at.
What can we expect in the new year?
What we can definitely expect next year is a new federal government with some Herculean tasks ahead of it. Electricity market design, the Gas and Hydrogen Economy Act, the Renewable Gas Act, ... are just a few examples.
The motto that we proclaimed for 2024 in the last 2023 newsletter: ‘from champion of targets to champion of measures’ must be extended to 2025 and strongly recommended to the new government. The year 2024 has not only shown us once again how necessary the energy transition and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are.
‘The energy transition in the pipeline’ remains our motto and our mission in the new year.
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a relaxing holiday season. We also have a little Christmas present for you. It's hidden in this newsletter :)
Our most important wish for you this year: stay healthy and optimistic!
Your AGGM
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Important news
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Good to know
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Important News
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Update on gas storage levy
There is movement in the German gas storage levy! The Trading Hub Europe (THE), which is responsible for the German gas market, has once again increased the levy to €2.99/MWh from 1 January 2025. However, the reason given for the increase is that export volumes were no longer taken into account when calculating the contribution. On the one hand, this is good news. On the other hand, the addition remains that this fee is only being suspended pending the implementation of the amendment to the Energy Industry Act (EnWG) on 1 January 2025. This will give the German government until then to enshrine this matter in law in the EnWG. If this is not the case, the higher surcharge will be levied retroactively.
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A CO₂ collection and transport network for Austria
Austria has committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2040. The remaining hard-to-abate CO2 emissions, as well as biogenic CO₂ emissions from large individual sources in industry and the energy sector, must therefore be captured and transported to users such as the chemical industry for further use (utilisation) and/or storage. This requires a new pipeline system.
The responsible Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) has commissioned a consortium consisting of AIT-Austrian Institute of Technology, Frontier Economics, Montanuniversität Leoben and AGGM to carry out a feasibility study for this infrastructure.
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Good to know
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Maintenance planning 2025
AGGM also handled the cross-system maintenance coordination for 2025 in accordance with its role as market and distribution area manager as defined in the Natural Gas Act. (Section 11 para 14 and Section 27 para 18 GWG 2011).
The measures reported by the distribution network operator, transmission network operator and storage system operators are checked by us for overlaps and, if necessary, combined or unbundled so that there are no interruptions to supply.
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Data picture of the quarter
Entry-Exit Italy Allocated 2020 - 2024
After monthly peaks of over 32 TWh in deliveries to Italy in 2020 and 2021 - which corresponds to around a third of Austria's annual consumption in just one month - exports have fallen sharply since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They have been rising again slightly since 2024 and currently stand at around 8.5 TWh in November 2024. Italy's gas consumption in 2023 was around 600 TWh.
https://platform.aggm.at/portal/visualisation/ts-publication?fav=Qe3
Note: You are welcome to embed our graphics on your website via iFrames. Please send any enquiries to mgm@aggm.at.
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ESM game: Austria's next TOP energy model
We have a little Christmas present for you:
The energy transition requires a total reorganisation of the energy system. This is challenging, as energy must always be available reliably and affordably. For this transformation to succeed as efficiently as possible, the effects of individual components of the energy system on the entire system must be known so that the right decisions can be made. Hydrogen will certainly play an important role in achieving the decarbonisation targets. Accordingly, a hydrogen infrastructure will also be needed, and we have already presented a concrete concept for this in the H2-Roadmap.
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Review AGID 2024
The consultation versions of the Long-Term and Integrated Planning (LFiP) and the Coordinated Network Development Plan (CNDP) were presented at the AGID 2024 by Vartan Awetisjan (AGGM), Johannes Misensky (AGGM), Claudia Kafka (Gas Connect Austria) and Thomas Höfling (TAG GmbH). 17 comments were submitted as part of the consultation and are available on the website. We are currently incorporating these comments into the LFiP and CNDP, after which they will be submitted to E-Control.
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©2026 AGGM Austrian Gas Grid Management AG
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