EU legislation on the security of gas supply requires that Member States with underground gas storage facilities ensure that their storages are at least 90 percent full ahead of the winter season between the period from 1 October to 1 December 2026. This requirement was introduced as part of the joint EU’s effort to strengthen energy security and was adopted in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In light of the war in the Middle East and the current difficult market situation, the European Commission has encouraged Member States to make appropriate use of the flexibilities provided in the regulation. As Denmark is a net exporter of gas, with domestic production from the Danish North Sea and significant biogas production, Denmark has decided to make use of this additional flexibility. Consequently, Denmark's national filling target has been reduced to 75 percent.
As of 1 July 2026, Denmark’s two gas storage facilities were approximately 43 percent full while around 83 percent of the storage capacity had been booked. The relatively low filling level is primarily due to market conditions that have not provided sufficient economic incentive for market participants to fill the gas storages.
The Danish Energy Agency assesses that the security of supply in Denmark and the EU is not currently threatened by the low filling level. The European market is well supplied with gas, and Denmark has secure access to gas through domestically produced biogas, gas from the Danish part of the North Sea, and gas imports from Norway. However, a higher storage level can further strengthen Denmark’s gas security of supply throughout the winter.
Procurement of Gas Storage Obligation
On behalf of the government, the Danish Energy Agency is planning to repeat the tender of last year aimed at increasing gas storage levels ahead of the winter of 2026-2027 and contributing to Denmark meeting its national filling target of 75 percent storage level between 1 October and 1 December 2026.
The procurement of storage obligations will be carried out through one or more tenders in a dynamic purchasing system. The tender notice are available on EU’s TED-platform. Interested market participants can be prequalified in the tender system Ethics where the tender documents are available and where market participants may submit binding offers. Link to both EU’s TED-platform and the tender system Ethics is shown here: https://ted.europa.eu/en/notice/-/detail/482337-2026