German Gas Consumption Reducing but More Required

Germany has made a significant push to reduce gas consumption which is showing up in consumption figures. Today, the German government introduced further consumption cut measures with energy security this winter still at severe risk:

• Measures include limiting the use of lighting in public spaces – expected to cut gas usage by 2-2.5%.
• Overall, 497 billion kilowatt hours (billion kWh) of natural gas were consumed in the first half of 2022, 14.7 percent less than in the same period of the previous year based on a recent report by Germany’s BDEW.
• One reason for this is the significantly milder weather than in spring 2021.
• Even adjusted for temperature influences, natural gas consumption in the first half of the year was still around eight percent below the value for the first half of 2021.
• High prices in particular have also contributed towards demand destruction as well as economic downturn factors and personal efforts to reduce consumption.
• The decline in June was particularly clear. Adjusted gas consumption in Germany was almost a quarter below that of the same month last year.
• Electricity generation from gas has been declining since mid-2021. In the first half of 2022, around twelve percent less electricity was generated in gas-fired power plants than in the same period of the previous year.
• "In order to get through the winter well, it is important to further reduce gas consumption and to fill up the gas storage tanks as much as possible for the rest of the summer," says Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW.