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183
Sharp Decline in EU's Natural Gas Consumption, New Data Shows (www.enerdata.net)
submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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TLDR: Mainly good news as power generation from natural gas has dropped significantly, largely replaced by renewables, despite rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Energy-intensive industries reduced gas consumption either despite economic challenges, but are still struggling.

[...]

Electricity generation from natural gas has fallen by 26% since 2021 [...] While some initial switching in 2022 involved coal or oil, renewables have been the main replacement, with their share of total power generation increasing from 39% in 2021 to nearly 50% in 2024. The decrease in total electricity generation has also contributed to lower gas demand, as the EU’s overall electricity consumption has declined since 2021.

[...]

While the overall manufacturing industry has remained stable (-1% since 2021), energy-intensive sectors such as metallurgy (-11%), non-metallic minerals (-15%), and chemicals (-10%) have seen sharp declines, largely due to high energy costs affecting competitiveness.

[...]

sharp rise in electricity prices during the energy crisis, which has partly discouraged both industrial and residential consumers from switching to electric alternatives. Additionally, low economic and demographic growth and the decline of energy-intensive industries have contributed to an overall reduction in energy demand, slowing down the need for electrification. This suggests that, in the short term, electrification is not yet driving the decarbonisation of final energy consumption at the scale needed to replace natural gas entirely.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I mean, replacing things costs money, at least in the short term.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It's not just that

Electricity providers still keep old, expensive power plants up and running, and due to merit order pricing, the cheap produced renewable energy isn't showing up in people's bills

I feel like really betrayed here, although I have to admit, that I'm maybe not getting the big picture

But also tariffs for using the net have gone up - at least in Austria.
So although the energy got cheaper, I'm paying much more - and I've chosen a electricity provider, who guarantees renewables and with that the price should be much lower by now

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@naeap @CanadaPlus the whole reason why those old plants need to kept up and running for now is that most renewables are fluctuating and there aren’t enough storage facilities available (which also gonna increase prices by the way). otherwise the net can’t be kept stable
In your case, this means that your provider can still sell you renewables, as their net production is covering for the consumer demand, but overall, you still get the mix.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 weeks ago

Yeah, grid storage is a trillion-dollar problem right now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Hmm. I don't understand how merit order pricing would stop renewables from being used. It literally only uses more expensive sources when the cheap ones run out.