The price of gas is worrying many households. As current figures from the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) suggest on Tuesday, this is having an impact on consumption. According to this, almost a quarter less gas was consumed in June 2022 than in the same month last year. In total, 497 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of natural gas were consumed in the first half of 2022, 14.7 percent less than in the same period last year.
The association cites the significantly milder weather than in spring 2021 as the main reason, since gas is mainly used for heating. But even adjusted for temperature influences, natural gas consumption in the first half of the year was around eight percent below the value for the first half of 2021.
Coal phase-out, climate change, sector coupling: The briefing for the energy and climate sector. For decision makers
“The high price level in particular reduced demand,” concludes the BDEW. The economic downturn or personally motivated savings effects could also have contributed to this. The decline in June was particularly clear.
According to BDEW information, 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 last year.
“In almost every household and in public buildings there are other ways of saving energy – for example shorter showers or a professional heating check,” advises Kerstin Andreae, Chair of the BDEW Executive Board. “Every kilowatt hour saved is also easy on your wallet.”
According to a study by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the state could benefit even more from the high prices than before. The foundation, which is close to the party “Die Linke”, had commissioned an investigation into the “excess profit tax”. Accordingly, “revenues of 30 to 100 billion euros per year are possible,” it says there.
The authors analyzed the profits of six major oil companies in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period last year, as well as the price increases for oil, gas and electricity since the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. They set this data in relation to German consumption. Calculated over the year, this results in a crisis-related surplus of 38 billion euros in the oil sector, 25 billion euros in the gas sector and 50 billion euros in the electricity from nuclear power and renewable energies sectors.
