Saving because of the gas crisis: Germany is hit the hardest - in absolute numbers

Created: 04/08/2022 15:33

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

Pipe systems in the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline. (Archive image) © Jens Büttner/dpa

The EU countries want to reduce their gas consumption by at least 15 percent by spring 2023.

Germany has to save more than others.

Munich - Dependence on gas from Russia is affecting European countries: A gas crisis is imminent because Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin, who is driving the Ukraine war, could actually decide to completely stop the already reduced gas supplies in revenge for Western sanctions .

Most recently, Putin completely suspended deliveries to Latvia.

To counteract this, EU countries must adjust their gas consumption and save heavily.

The European Commission has drawn up an emergency plan for this.

This provides for a savings target of 15 percent.

Germany is hardest hit by the savings target.

Gas crisis looms: EU countries should save gas - Germany is probably most affected

Germany has to reduce its absolute gas consumption more than any other EU country.

According to a calculation by the dpa news agency based on data from the EU Commission, the Federal Republic of Germany must consume a good 10 billion cubic meters less gas from the beginning of August to March 2023 in order to achieve the target set by the EU countries.

The amount of gas that can be saved in Germany is roughly equivalent to the average annual consumption of five million four-person households.

Because 10 billion cubic meters of gas correspond to around 100 billion kilowatt hours, and a typical four-person household in Germany consumes around 20,000 kilowatt hours a year.

This means that Europe's largest economy has to save more in absolute terms than others because of its comparatively high gas consumption.

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Merz and Söder at Isar-2

Germany is followed by Italy with a required saving of just over eight billion cubic meters by March next year.

France and the Netherlands both need to use around five billion cubic meters less.

Overall, the EU must save around 45 billion cubic meters of gas - Germany would be responsible for almost a quarter of the savings.

Fears of an energy crisis also fueled the debate about extending the lifetime of nuclear power plants.

Now Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was cautiously open to a possible extension.

The nuclear power plants are only relevant for a small proportion of electricity production.

"But it can still make sense," emphasized Scholz in Mülheim an der Ruhr.

The Union is already in favor of an extension.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz and CSU leader Markus Söder visited the Isar-2 nuclear power plant in Landshut together.

Both call for a quick decision to extend the term.