German Gas Use Soars on Cold 1Q

Germany used almost a fifth more gas in the first quarter of this year than it did in the same period of last year as the weather was so cold, according to preliminary calculations by AG Energiebilanzen (Ageb) released May 24.

The extraordinary 19.7% increase for gas reflected its importance in heating in Germany, said the energy market research group that was set up by industry associations and academic researchers.

Russian exporter Gazprom has already pointed to its record deliveries during the coldest 1Q period into Germany and other central European countries; Norwegian exports however also benefitted.

German total energy demand rose by 5.7% to 3,856 petajoules in 1Q2018, said Ageb, noting that the cold February and March and positive economic growth spurred demand. Without the weather impact, it estimates that overall energy use would still have have risen, but by 3%.

Oil use fell by 1.3%, with declines in both heating oil and diesel sales, but it is still Germany’s main fuel. Hard coal demand fell sharply by 11.8% while lignite (brown coal) declined less markedly by 1.5%. Both kinds of coal were used less in power generation. Nuclear generation rose 29.3%, but that was only because several units had outages in 1Q 2017; the country remains committed to its phase-out in 2022.

Renewable energy use was up 8.9%, with all forms up, except solar, which fell by 6%.