Voestalpine of Austria stores gas to ensure winter supply

• Voestalpine has signed contracts to store three months’ worth of natural gas.
• Emergency legislation enacted earlier this year by the Austrian government grants firms permission to construct energy reserves.
• The steel and engineering company is already halfway to its goal of filling 1.5TWh of gas storage.

Voestalpine, Austrian steel, and engineering company have reportedly signed contracts to store three months’ worth of natural gas to ensure production at its plants throughout the upcoming winter.

Under emergency legislation enacted earlier this year by the Austrian government, firms such as Voestalpine have been granted permission to construct their own energy reserves.

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According to Voestalpine, it is already halfway to its goal of filling 1.5TWh of gas storage as part of a month-old aggressive plan to acquire supplies.

“A stop in gas deliveries through Russia, or conversely an EU gas embargo, would hugely damage European industry,” said chief executive Herbert Eibensteiner on Friday.

“Should this worst-case scenario arise, however, having our own, full gas storage facilities, together with alternative sources of gas, would allow us to continue almost all production operations in Austria for several months,” he added.

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Other European industry groups have warned of the consequences of the impending energy crisis, but few have disclosed the specifics of their contingency plans.

Politicians believe that industrial stockpiling of energy resources may also prove problematic, particularly if huge corporations’ haste to get gas and oil increases the burden of prices passed on to consumers.