FNB Gas

FNB Gas (Vereinigung der Fernleitungsnetzbetreiber Gas) told Berlin on 27 May 2026 that the market-based storage-refill framework is broken and needs an urgent legislative overhaul. The evidence: Germany offered 5.7 TWh and the Netherlands 750 GWh in the January 2026 capacity auctions for the 2026-27 storage year, and not a single lot cleared.

FNB Gas represents Germany's four gas transmission system operators: Bayernets, Fluxys Deutschland, GASCADE, and Ontras. Together they run roughly 12,000 km of high-pressure pipeline and manage cross-border entry and exit points. The association publishes auction results and acts as the technical interlocutor with Germany's federal network regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur.

With Germany entering the 2026 injection season at roughly 64% fill (below the five-year average), the zero-clearing auctions make the EU's 90%-by-1-November storage target a live political question. FNB Gas's statement forces a decision in Berlin: mandatory refill obligations or a market-incentive redesign before next winter.