Status Report on the Security of Energy Supply in the State of Berlin

As of: January 27, 2023

With this regular status report, the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises provides information on the state of affairs and the assessment of energy supply security in the state of Berlin.

• Security of supply in Germany and Berlin is currently assured in all sectors.

However, the situation is tense and a further worsening of circumstances cannot be ruled out. Public authorities, companies and private consumers must continue to be prepared for very high energy prices. Saving energy remains imperative in all areas.

• The total storage level in Germany is at 82,91 %

This status report is drawn up by the Senate in close cooperation with network operators, utility companies, state and federal authorities, ministries and all sectors. The Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises has set up an energy task force and coordinates an inter-senate working group that continuously deals with all current issues relating to energy supply.

The gas supply in Germany and Berlin is currently secure. The stability of the nationwide gas network is being continuously monitored. There is currently no gas shortage. However, due to repeated reductions and interruptions in gas supplies from Russia, the situation is tense. Currently, the alert level (level 2) of the nationwide gas emergency plan is in effect.

To help fill storages facilities, saving energy is and will remain the order of the day. Consumption must be reduced now and permanently to ensure that sufficient gas reserves are available in the fall and winter and that they will last into 2023.

The share of Russian supplies in German gas imports has decreased in recent months from 55 % to less than 30 %. The situation in Berlin also corresponds to this so-called “Germany mix”. In order to achieve the targeted gradual independence from Russian gas by summer 2024, the German government has increased natural gas purchases from Norway and the Netherlands, increased LNG imports and initiated measures to secure and expand energy logistics.

The supply of the energy sources hard coal and oil is currently secure. No power failures or grid disruptions are expected at present. The legal reserves have been replenished. With regard to coal, the coal embargo against Russia has been in force since August 11, 2022. The oil embargo is scheduled to take effect at the end of the year.

A large part of the eastern German states and the capital region are supplied with products (gasoline, kerosene, oils) from refineries in Schwedt and Leuna. The refinery in Leuna has already contractually secured alternative sources of supply. The refinery in Schwedt is part of Rosneft Germany and is currently still supplied with oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline, The federal government placed the refinery under trusteeship on September 16, 2022 and is working at full speed to secure alternative supplies via pipelines from the ports in Rostock and Gdansk (Poland), among others.

The security of the power supply is currently ensured. The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action had arranged for a stress test to be carried out on the security of supply in the electricity market. The results were presented on September 05, 2022: Hourly crisis situations in the power system in winter 2022/23 are very unlikely, but cannot be completely ruled out at present. For this reason, the German government is pursuing a series of additional measures to ensure that short-term load shortages or power outages do not occur even in these very unlikely scenarios.

Furthermore, local grid operators are taking preventative measures for the unlikely event of a power grid overload. For example, mass use of electrically powered heaters such as fan heaters or infrared heaters could endanger grid stability. In such cases, power cuts limited in time and space could become necessary to protect the networks.