Decline of eight percent
German energy consumption historically low
December 20, 2023, 8:08 a.m
The cost of energy is exploding due to the Russian war of aggression. Saving is the order of the day. And that’s what consumers and industry in this country do too. The expected annual consumption is the lowest in German history.
According to one projection, energy consumption in Germany has fallen to its lowest level since reunification this year. In its forecast, the Energy Balances Working Group (AG Energy Balances) expects a decline of 7.9 percent to 10,791 petajoules (= 2998 terawatt hours). This means that the consumption of so-called primary energies in Germany is more than a quarter below the previous high of 1990, as the AG in Berlin announced. At the beginning of November, the experts had already predicted energy consumption of this magnitude.
To put things into perspective: According to the Federal Network Agency, 484 terawatt hours of electricity and 847 terawatt hours of natural gas were consumed in Germany in 2022. A terawatt hour is a billion kilowatt hours. The main reason for the decline was the declining economic performance. “The energy-intensive industries in particular recorded declines in production, which has a noticeable impact on energy consumption,” it said.
The persistently high level of energy prices had a significant impact on the reduction in energy consumption. “Although the import prices for the most important imported energies fell noticeably over the course of the year, prices are still significantly above the 2021 level.”
Weather hardly plays a role
The slightly warmer weather compared to the previous year only had a weak effect on reducing consumption. The only effect that increased consumption in 2023 came from demographic developments: “Due to the influx of 1.35 million people, the total population grew to almost 85.5 million people.”
Mineral oil continues to make up the largest share of the energy mix at 35.9 percent (previous year: 35.0). Natural gas follows with 24.5 percent (23.6). In 2023, renewable energies were ahead of coal at 19.6 percent (2022: 17.7): hard coal came in at 8.7 percent, lignite at 8.5 percent. In 2022, coal still accounted for 19.6 percent. Due to the nuclear phase-out in the spring, nuclear energy only accounted for 0.7 percent. The remaining 2.1 percent includes electricity imports, which exceeded exports in 2023.