Tanslation from German:

Energy consumption in Germany in the first six months of the current year was around 7 percent lower than in the same period last year. According to preliminary calculations by the Working Group on Energy Balances (AG Energiebilanzen), domestic primary energy consumption reached 5,561 petajoules (PJ) or 189.7 million tonnes of hard coal equivalent (MtCE) in the first half of 2023. This was 7.1 per cent less than in the first half of the previous year.

According to the AG Energiebilanzen, the high energy prices and the weak economic development are responsible for the considerable decline in consumption. The weather had little effect on increasing consumption in the first half of the year. Only the population increase in the course of the current refugee movements caused an increase in energy consumption, which, however, was significantly lower than the consumption-reducing effects.

The AG Energiebilanzen assumes that prices essentially determine the course of energy consumption. Although quotations on the energy markets have declined noticeably compared to the first half of 2022, the price level is still significantly higher than in 2021. Energy prices, according to the AG Energiebilanzen, thus continue to develop impulses to save energy, albeit at a slightly weaker intensity. In its analysis, the AG Energiebilanzen distinguishes between current, behaviour-related energy savings and investments in energy efficiency with longer-term effects. The consumption-reducing effects of the overall economic development are also currently strongly influenced by the significantly reduced production output of the energy-intensive industries (chemicals, metals, paper and glass). While production in the manufacturing sector as a whole stagnated in the first five months of the year, the energy-intensive industries recorded a minus of 13 percent.

The consumption of heating energy was only influenced to a small extent by the weather conditions in the first six months. It is true that temperatures in the reporting period were somewhat lower than in the same period last year. However, in the first three months, which are particularly important for heating demand, it was warmer than in the previous year. Adjusted for the slightly consumption-increasing effect of the weather, energy consumption would have fallen by 7.6 percent in the first half of the year.

The consumption of mineral oil decreased by 2.0 percent in the first six months of the current year. While the consumption of petrol rose by just under 6 per cent, there was a slight decline of just over 1 per cent in diesel fuel. Sales of aviation fuel rose by 7.5 per cent. The supply of raw petrol to the chemical industry decreased by almost 20 per cent. Sales of light heating oil, on the other hand, rose by 16 per cent because many consumers stocked up.

Natural gas consumption decreased by 10.1 percent in the first half of 2023. On the one hand, the decline is due to the lower use of natural gas in industry; on the other hand, consumption by household customers and small businesses was also around 10 percent below the long-term average. According to preliminary calculations, electricity generation from natural gas fell by about 4 per cent, and the generation of district heating decreased by a good 2 per cent.

The consumption of hard coal decreased by 10.8 per cent in the first half of the year. The use in power plants recorded a decrease of almost 19 per cent. Changes in fuel prices and the lower demand for electricity led to a reduction in the use of coal in power plants. Sales of hard coal to the iron and steel industry decreased by 2 per cent in the reporting period. This showed that carbon-intensive oxygen steel production fell by only 1.7 per cent, while electric steel production declined by 13 per cent, as high domestic industrial electricity prices are not competitive by international standards.

The consumption of lignite decreased by about 18 per cent. This decline is largely in line with the development of deliveries to public supply power plants and is mainly due to the significant drop in domestic electricity consumption as well as favourable generation conditions in neighbouring countries. Despite the high decline, lignite remained the second most important electricity generation energy in Germany after renewables, with a share of just under 18 percent.

Electricity generation from nuclear energy fell by 57 percent in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period last year. The decline in production is due to the stretch operation of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany (Neckarwestheim 2, Emsland and Isar 2) and their final decommissioning on 15 April 2023.

In the first half of the year, electricity deliveries abroad were 3.1 billion kilowatt hours (billion kWh) higher than the electricity volumes that flowed into Germany from abroad. In the same quarter of the previous year, the electricity exchange balance was still 17.3 billion kWh. In the second quarter of the current year, Germany became a net importer with an import surplus of 6.4 billion kWh. Germany’s higher import balance is considered a sign of a functioning European internal electricity market. Germany was able to benefit in part from cheaper generation options in neighbouring countries. In addition, weather conditions temporarily ensured higher electricity generation from hydropower in the Alpine region and Scandinavia. In addition, the expansion of renewable energies in other European countries progressed and increased the supply. Finally, the closure of the last three nuclear power plants in Germany and the higher availability of nuclear energy in France compared to the previous year are also reasons for the import surplus in the second quarter of 2023.

The contribution of renewable energies increased slightly by 0.6 percent in the first half of 2023. Electricity generation from renewable energy sources decreased slightly by 1 percent. The provision of heat increased by 5 per cent and there was a 3 per cent increase in the transport sector.

The somewhat less favourable weather compared to the previous year caused slight decreases in both photovoltaics (-1 percent) and wind power generation (-3 percent). Electricity generation from biomass decreased by 4 per cent. Hydroelectric power, on the other hand, increased by 9 per cent. The AG Energiebilanzen assumes that environmental heat harnessed by heat pumps increased by about 13 percent and the use of wood by private households and in the commercial and service sectors grew by about 7 percent in the first half of 2023.

According to a preliminary estimate by AG Energiebilanzen, energy-related CO₂ emissions fell by more than eight percent in the first half of 2023 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. This corresponds to a reduction in the order of 28 million tonnes (mt).