Energy consumption in Germany fell by 7.1 percent in the first half of the year. According to the Working Group on Energy Balances, the main reasons for this are higher energy prices and a weak economy. This emerges from a report by the AG available to the German Press Agency.
The working group on energy balances spoke of a considerable decline. Although prices have fallen noticeably compared to the first half of 2022, their level is still significantly higher than in 2021. “The energy prices continue to provide impetus for saving energy, albeit with a slightly weaker intensity.”
In addition, there is a significant drop in production in the energy-intensive sectors of chemicals, metals, paper and glass. Consumption-increasing effects due to slightly lower temperatures and the increase in population were significantly lower than the consumption-reducing effects.
According to the report, energy consumption per energy source only increased for renewables – by 0.6 percent. Oil consumption fell by 2 percent. Natural gas consumption fell by 10.1 percent. “On the one hand, the decline is due to the reduced use of natural gas in industry, on the other hand, consumption by household customers and small businesses was around 10 percent below the long-term average,” the experts determined.
Expansion of renewable energies is progressing
Hard coal consumption fell by 10.8 percent in the first half of the year. “Use in power plants saw a drop of almost 19 percent.” Changes in fuel prices and reduced demand for electricity led to a reduction in the use of coal in power plants.
The consumption of lignite fell by around 18 percent. The AG also attributes this to the reduced domestic electricity consumption and “favorable generation conditions in neighboring countries”. Electricity generation from nuclear energy fell by 57 percent in the first half of the year due to the stretching operation and subsequent shutdown of the last three power plants.
All in all, 3.1 billion kilowatt hours of electricity flowed abroad in the first half of the year (first half of 2022: 17.4 billion). The AG pointed out that Germany had developed into a net importer with an import surplus of 6.4 billion kilowatt hours in the second quarter.
“Germany was able to benefit in part from cheaper generation options in neighboring countries. In addition, there were weather conditions that temporarily resulted in higher hydroelectric power generation in the Alpine region and Scandinavia.” The expansion of renewable energies in other European countries is also progressing and increasing the supply. The AG called Germany’s higher import balance a “sign of a functioning European internal electricity market”.
