When the corona pandemic broke out in 2020, electricity consumption in Germany fell significantly. The Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) noted a similar decline in October. It’s not just because of the warm weather.
According to the energy industry, electricity consumption in Germany has fallen significantly in recent months. In the summer, energy consumption was still around the same level as the previous year, reports the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management BDEW in Berlin. Four percent less electricity was consumed in September than a year earlier. “In October, the difference was even nine percent,” explains the industry association. “The last time there was such a decrease in electricity consumption was in the first year of the corona pandemic in 2020.”
In the entire year to date, consumption was around 434 billion kilowatt hours (kWh), 1.9 percent below the same period last year. For the year as a whole, the BDEW expects electricity consumption to fall by a good two percent compared to 2021. The association cites the unusually warm weather in October as the reason for the decline, but also cites savings on the part of consumers as a result of the crisis and declines in production in industry .
Gas consumption between January and October was around 674 billion kWh, 13.7 percent less than in the same period last year. Adjusted for temperature effects, consumption was 7.5 percent lower. According to preliminary calculations, in October the values ??were even 23 percent below the level of the previous year. In addition to temperature effects, the reasons for this are the economic slowdown and savings due to high prices and changed consumption behavior.
On a weekly basis, the savings are even greater. The Federal Network Agency announced at the beginning of November that the total German consumption in the 43rd calendar week alone, with an average of 1672 gigawatt hours per day, was a good 36 percent lower than the average consumption of the same calendar weeks in the past four years. Thanks to the mild temperatures, German households were able to save on heating.