To compensate for the loss of Russian gas, the EU countries overfulfilled the plan to reduce gas consumption. Alternative supplies were not enough. The economy was driven by the German industry, which had to reduce its capacity due to abnormal prices. In January alone, it accounted for 15% of the reduction in all of Europe.
Gas consumption in the European Union fell by 19.3% in August 2022-January 2023. It is reported by Eurostat. The department noted that the plan for a voluntary reduction in demand by 15% compared to the previous five years was overfulfilled. The highest drop in demand was shown by Finland (-57.3%), Lithuania (-47.9%) and Sweden (-40.2%). At the same time, Spain (-13.7%) and Slovenia (-14.2%) did not reach the planned 15%.
Eurostat gave an example that in January the EU countries consumed 42.9 billion cubic meters, while a year earlier – 54 billion cubic meters.
“A year ago, the EU depended on gas supplies from Russia by 40%. Today, pipeline deliveries have dropped significantly. In 2022, we received 62 billion cubic meters, 90 billion cubic meters less than in the previous year. Radical changes have not brought the EU to its knees,” – the European Commissioner for Energy wrote on Twitter Kadri Simson.
Brussels believes that the reduction in consumption was the result of special measures to avoid gas shortages. However, this is highly debatable.
On the one hand, significant savings are due to the warm weather in Europe. On the other hand, due to abnormally high prices in the EU countries, the demand for gas was destroyed. Especially in industry. And Germany became the locomotive.
According to Eurostat, the country reduced its consumption by 19%. As a percentage, this is much less than some other EU states. However, Germany is the largest consumer of gas, the demand for which in the country is about 90 billion cubic meters per year. This is 45 times more than in the same Finland.
According to the Federal Grid Agency, in August 2022-January 2023, the German industry reduced its gas use by 7 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to the annual consumption in Greece in the pre-crisis period. And in January, German companies reduced gas flaring by more than a quarter, or 1.7 billion cubic meters, which amounted to a 15% reduction in all gas consumption in the EU.
According to the Shell report, the entire European industry, due to a shutdown or reduction in capacity, saves the EU countries about 2 billion cubic meters of gas every month.
Head of the Federal Network Agency Claus Müller explained that gas consumption is declining not only due to a reduction in production, but also due to the transition of enterprises to alternative fuels. For example, oil.
Be that as it may, the head of the German Institute for Economic Research Marcel Fratscher already estimates Germany’s losses due to the energy crisis at 100 billion euros, or 2.5% of the country’s GDP.
“Germany was economically hit harder by the crisis because it had a stronger dependence on Russian energy, a high share of energy-intensive industry, and is extremely tightly linked to exports and global supply chains,” Marcel Fratzscher said.
The high prices hit the producers of fertilizers, chemical products, steel and cement the hardest. The EU Fertilizer Association complained that European capacity had been reduced by 70%.
In February, gas prices in the EU fell below $600 per thousand cubic meters, while in August they exceeded $2,500. However, this is still more than twice as expensive as before the crisis. The leaders of German enterprises have repeatedly stated in the fall and winter that they do not exclude the transfer of production to other regions of the world: from the USA to China.
