Dimmed street lights, shorter showers: Germany leads Europe energy savings drive
22/07/2022 11:54
* Berlin pushes for energy savings to have enough gas for
winter
* Some cities already dimming lights, reducing
heating/aircon
* Still not enough to ensure steady supply if Russia cuts
gas
By Sarah Marsh and Louisa Off
BERLIN/AUGSBURG, Germany, July 22 (Reuters) - Summer nights
in the wealthy Bavarian city of Augsburg this year are eerily
dark and quiet: The facades of historic buildings are not
illuminated, street lights are dimmed and most of the fountains
are not operating.
Augsburg is among many cities around Germany to have rolled
out a raft of energy savings measures since the start of
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which sent oil and gas prices
soaring and sparked a cost of living crisis. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2YL3AJ
Around Europe, countries are looking for ways to cut energy
consumption and fill up their gas stores in response to lower
Russian gas deliveries and in preparation for a possible total
cut-off. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2Z12JM
Germany, as one of the countries most heavily dependent on
Russian gas, is leading the charge with a nationwide campaign to
save gas so that Europe's largest economy has enough to get it
through the winter, although energy experts say additional
measures are needed to achieve energy security.
Augsburg mayor Eva Weber told Reuters that the city's energy
bills this year were expected to be almost double from last
year's costs of around 15.9 million euros.
"We want to show the Augsburg citizens that we could be
facing really hard times...we all need to look to really save
energy," Weber said.
The city has also lowered the temperature in its public
pools and is checking which traffic lights it can turn off. Like
other cities, it wants to limit heating in public buildings.
Around half of German households rely on gas for their
heating and some 13% of electricity is derived from the fossil
fuel. Gas also accounts for a third of industry's energy. In
recent years, half of that gas has come from Russia.
Germany's economy ministry is seeking to fill its gas caverns
ahead of winter when demand typically surges so that it could
get by with those as well as new alternative gas sources such as
floating liquid natural gas terminals. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2YS0MM urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2Z04ZP
Any gas saved now can help it reach its goal, the government
says, which is why it is re-activating coal-fired power plants
and aims to launch a gas auction model to encourage industrial
consumers to save gas. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2Y82HH
The economy ministry also launched a campaign last month
urging citizens to take shorter showers, increase their fridge's
temperature by 1 degree and better insulate their home.
"I have further significantly reduced my own showering
time," said Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a Green, who
announced more binding measures on Thursday, including a ban on
heating swimming pools in private homes. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2Z24WN
UP TO TENFOLD PRICE RISES
Price rises of up to tenfold for new end consumers have
already incentivised energy savings, said Thorsten Lenck at
think tank Agora Energiewende. Those still on old one- or
two-year contracts though have yet to feel the pain.
Private landlords worry about the exorbitant year-end bills
for extra energy costs facing tenants that they might not be
able to afford to pay. As such, Germany's largest residential
landlord Vonovia VNAn.DE has said it will reduce heating for
tenants in many of its apartments at night.
"We are some way on the path to saving enough energy, but
we're still not there yet," said Lenck.
Adjusted for temperature differences, gas consumption was
6.4 % lower in the first five months of the year, and 10.8 %
less in May, according to Germany's power industry association
BDEW.
The European Union told member states on Wednesday they
needed to cut gas usage by 15% until March. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Z10AM
But that's an average - Germany needs to cut its usage by
30% given its gas reliance, said Simone Tagliapietra, senior
fellow at think-tank Bruegel.
"Politicians don't like to ask people to sacrifice and they
postponed this because they still wanted to believe Russia might
not play too much with gas," he said. "But they will now have to
... otherwise Europe simply will have to close down factories
because they cannot curtail gas to families."
PREPARING FOR WORST CASE SCENARIO
Germany's emergency plan prioritizes gas for households and
critical institutions like hospitals, whereas industry would be
the first to face rationing.
Nonetheless, across Germany, nervous citizens are stocking
up on wood for fireplaces or electric heaters in reaction to
rising prices and to brace for a worst case scenario in the
winter when temperatures can drop as low as -20 degrees.
"Demand for wood has gone up 100%," said Olesja Breuer. "Our
delivery times have gone from two weeks to two months".
DIY-store chain Hornbach, which has 98 stores in Germany,
said sales of different types of fuels and heaters as well as
isolation materials and solar modules started shooting up last
November, and again after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"It was driven firstly by the rising energy prices ... and
also clients' desire to be autonomous and prepared for
emergencies," said spokesperson Florian Preuss, noting that
consumers in other European markets were not behaving in the
same way.
Some cities are planning on opening warm spaces where either
the homeless or those who cannot afford heating can escape the
winter cold.
"We have an energy crisis that needs to be solved as a
society," said Augsburg resident Christoph Kleine-Vennekate.
"And if (tackling that) is about such irrelevant things as
lighting up buildings, we can manage it easily."
($1 = 0.9831 euros)
(Reporting by Louisa Off and Ayhan Uyanik in Augsburg and Sarah
Marsh in Berlin; Additional Reporting by Riham Alkousaa in
Berlin, Jan Lopatka in Prague and Leigh Thomas in Paris; Editing
by Raissa Kasolowsky)
((sarah.marsh@thomsonreuters.com; +49 30 220133621; Reuters
Messaging: sarah.marsh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))