Estonia will have about 650 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of gas as strategic gas reserves in the lead-up to winter, a third less than the government's spring target, as the stockpiling agency has ran out of government funds.
The Estonian Stockpiling Agency (ESPA) has announced a third procurement to meet the government's set target of purchasing one terawatt-hour of natural gas for a national reserve for this upcoming winter. Two previous procurements have secured just one-fifth of this total.
Estonia's second gas supply tender saw the Estonian Stockpiling Agency offered 100 gigawatt-hours of gas. The two tenders have managed to secure just 20 percent of Estonia's planned gas stockpile of 1 terawatt-hours.
Estonian experts do not expect the price of gas to fall in the coming months and see no reason for it to do so until the end of the year. Currently, there is a shortage across Europe.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications Ando Leppiman will start as chairman of the board of the Estonian Stockpiling Agency on May 9.