Central European gas flows are adjusting to the loss of Russian gas via Ukraine on January 1, 2025. Data from network operators earlier this week showed that gas from Germany and Italy to Central Europe is increasing to compensate for the loss of Russian gas.
Austria received gas via Slovakia until the end of last year although supplies under contract with Russia's Gazprom stopped in November.
Austria's grid operator said it increased imports from Germany and Italy after gas flows from Slovakia were halted due to the expiration of a gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine.
Gazprom's gas supply to Slovakia under a long-term contract with Slovakia's main supplier SPP was also stopped when the Russian-Ukrainian transit contract ended. Russian gas used to meet about two-thirds of Slovakia's market demand.
Data from Slovakian gas transmission network operator Eustream showed daily orders for gas flows from Hungary to Slovakia stood at 87 gigawatt hours (GWh) on 6.1 - the highest since early January.
This is lower than the peak of around 100 GWh at the end of 2024, but the reduction in exports to Austria and the Czech Republic suggests that this gas is staying in Slovakia.
The Hungarian route - used to transport Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline - is an important alternative in the absence of gas flows from Ukraine, SPP said.
However, the alternative that SPP prefers is to transport gas through Germany and to the Czech Republic or Austria. Network data shows that this route has not been used so far.
In the Czech Republic - where importers do not have direct contracts with Gazprom - they have switched to taking gas from the German network.
The Czechs are set to almost completely stop using Russian gas by 2023, but imports from the east are set to increase in 2024. According to market participants, this is due to German transit tariffs making transport from the west more expensive.
The tax was lifted on January 1 to ease the shift to western supplies.
Data from transmission system operator NET4GAS shows that orders for gas shipments from Germany to the Czech Republic on January 6 stood at 177 gigawatt hours and no gas was exported from the country.
