The federal government has called on German industry to reduce its gas consumption by a fifth. Natural gas power plants, which are included in the industry statistics, have recently generated significantly more gas. Nevertheless, the economy as a whole is well on the way to reaching its savings target.
Whether German natural gas is enough for the winter depends to a large extent on the fun measures taken by the industry. According to research by FOCUS online, spokesmen for industry associations and large corporations unanimously report that they will hardly be able to save any more energy in the short term. However, because they make better use of savings projects that were initiated years ago, companies are currently consuming significantly less natural gas than in 2021. They are also appealing to the federal government for further success.
It is also interesting to see what influence gas-fired power plants and the three nuclear reactors that were shut down at the end of 2021 have on industrial consumption.
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Statistics on gas consumption in the Federal Republic have puzzled some citizens over the past few days. For a long time, industry and households used less gas than in the previous year. According to data from Trading Hub Europe, the consumption curve of companies shot up last week. Suddenly, companies were using almost a fifth more natural gas than in the previous year. Where did this increase come from? Have companies given up their efforts to save?
No, explains the Federal Network Agency when asked. The consumption data also included natural gas power plants in industry. Since these will increasingly be connected to the grid on days when wind and solar energy supply little electricity, they sometimes produce sharp fluctuations in the consumption statistics. That distorts them a bit. This statement is confirmed by the fact that gas consumption in industry has been falling again since Monday after the increase in the previous week. Sunshine and lots of wind allowed renewable energies to contribute more kilowatt hours to the electricity mix, and gas consumption decreased.
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The monthly average provides more meaningful information than the daily consumption.
When asked, no industry representative wants to commit to how much natural gas German industry will save over the winter. All interviewees, companies and associations refer to the systems, which they say are efficient anyway due to years of energy saving measures, and which only use what they absolutely need.
However, nationwide gas consumption provides an indication of how much gas the industry is saving this year. According to the Federal Network Agency, in the past three months companies have mostly used 200 gigawatt hours less gas than in the previous year. From July to September, this corresponded to around 20 percent of the previous year’s consumption. The industry is currently meeting the requirements of the federal government, which has declared that 20 percent saving as a prerequisite for sufficient gas supplies in winter.
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Companies used around one and a half times as much gas as households and businesses this year. The difference is particularly evident in summer: In cold January and February, households even burned slightly more gas than industry. However, when they turned off their heating in the summer, they reduced their consumption to a third to a quarter of the industry.
The success or failure of industrial austerity measures thus decides about two-thirds of whether German households get enough gas to heat their homes in winter. So far, the industry is apparently well on the way to achieving its savings target.
According to the editorial network Germany, gas-fired power plants consumed around 90 percent more electricity in August 2022 than in August 2021 in order to compensate for the summer wind doldrums and the output of the three nuclear power plants that were shut down at the end of 2021. However, this data does not show a clear trend: in the first five months of this year According to the Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries, the gas-fired power plants consumed 15 percent less than in the previous year.
Since power plants only account for around one eighth of natural gas consumption in Germany, these figures are of less importance compared to the consumption of the rest of industry and households. This is also reflected in the fact that overall consumption in industry fell in August despite the significant increase in gas power generation.
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The Federation of German Industries (BDI) says that companies can save gas quickly, above all, by switching to energy sources such as oil and liquid gas, letting machines run more efficiently and doing little things like turning off the light more often. Where possible, companies have already completed this switch. Opportunities for further quick savings would only come from plant shutdowns – the worst of all options.
The example of BASF shows how difficult short-term energy savings are for companies. When asked, a spokesman said that improvements in energy efficiency are “only possible to a very limited extent in a quick fix”. The chemical company has been reducing its energy consumption for years. And I’m currently working on industrial heat pumps, for example, which are intended to make heat from wastewater usable. That helps in the long term. However, the development cannot be completed within a few months.
Companies are more likely to achieve quick savings by making better use of existing savings techniques. According to a press spokesman, ThyssenKrupp has relocated parts of its steel production to Duisburg, where it forwards the steam from its plants to the municipal utility and a brewery, among others. They use it to heat households and brew beer, which reduces their own energy requirements. Such networks do not develop overnight either.
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For further energy-saving measures, the industry is demanding simple and practical rules for dealing with energy from politicians. The BDI criticizes that the switch from gas to liquid gas and oil is made more difficult by “environmental legal obstacles”. Since this fuel exchange, in contrast to partial shutdowns, ensures full production, the federal government should promote it more consistently than before.
The BASF spokesman says that complex calculation rules are currently tying up human and financial resources that are lacking in the major transformation tasks. Simpler rules, less bureaucracy and the elimination of mandatory measures for plants that could soon be shut down anyway would free up more energy for solutions.
