Germany’s government announced on Friday that it had achieved its goal of filling 95% of the country’s gas reserves earlier than expected, despite the complete shutdown of Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline in early September, AFP reported.

“Today, reserves exceeded the threshold of 95%. They amount to 95.14%,” the German Economy Ministry said in a statement.

The government’s target of 95% by November 1 was therefore met more than two weeks early.

“Despite the closure of the Nord Stream 1 (gas pipeline), reserves were filled faster than expected,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck was quoted as saying in a press release.

Before the war in Ukraine, Germany was more than 55% dependent on Russian gas supplies.

Since the start of the conflict, Russian gas supplies have fallen sharply before stopping completely in early September.

In this context, in July Berlin set a number of targets to bring gas reserves to 95% by November 1, before the start of winter.

To achieve this, the government has adopted a number of measures to preserve this resource, including increasing the use of coal, reducing consumption in public buildings and incentives for business.

Olaf Scholz’s government also unlocked an exceptional package of 1.5 billion euros for the purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to ensure its supply.

As a result, gas supplies from Norway or the USA, in particular through Belgium and the Netherlands, have increased significantly.

“Germany bought everything it could afford,” Johan Lilistam, a professor at the University of Potsdam, told AFP.

But that means higher gas prices for German households and businesses, which Berlin says will lead to a recession next year.

However, Germany does not yet have the necessary infrastructure to import LNG.

Therefore, five terminal projects are planned, launched by the government, so that the country can import the resource directly from the sea.

The first of them should be operational already this winter in the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven.

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