Since the end of December, Germany has not only failed to comply with the EU’s gas-saving programme, but has also been exceeding consumption compared to the average level in the pre-crisis four years.
According to the Federal Network Agency, during the two weeks from 27 November to 10 December, German consumers have maliciously violated the EU-wide programme to reduce gas consumption. It calls for a 15 per cent reduction in demand compared to the 2018-2021 average.
The German regulator reports that between 27 November and 3 December, the country’s consumers exceeded pre-crisis averages by 9%, with the following week’s reduction of only 3%. Both households and industry showed high non-compliance rates.
As Klaus Müller, head of the Federal Network Agency, wrote in X, the passage of winter in this situation is helped by large gas reserves in German storage facilities. According to the GIE, from 27 November to 10 December they fell by 1.6 billion cubic meters to 22.3 billion cubic meters.
While the population has actively violated the gas saving programme before, this is the first time industry has been so obvious. Apparently, Germany did not save money on heating, and the cold weather that lasted for 11 days was met in full force. During the frosty days, Germany was unlucky with both wind and sunshine, which had an impact on electricity generation. The share of gas-fired generation rose to almost 21 per cent. Whereas the annual average is half that, according to the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems. Fraunhofer.
It can be assumed that the demand for gas in Germany would be even higher. However, the energy-intensive industry is still not recovering its capacity, because even at $400 per thousand cubic meters, the fuel costs more than twice as much as before the crisis.
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