German residents are snapping up firewood for winter?

Oct,18,2022

namkoo solar

Are German residents unable to pay their electricity bills?

The answer is no. Compared with the natural gas bill, the increase of residential electricity price is relatively limited.

According to the data of the German Ministry of Economy, the parity price in Germany has risen from 31.89 euro cents/kilowatt hour last year to 34.6 euro cents/kilowatt hour today. In the past ten years, the average annual total electricity charge of German household users was 1700 euros, which is expected to increase by more than 10% (about 200 euros) in real terms, equivalent to only one seventh of Germany's monthly minimum wage.

Electricity price of residents in Germany over the years

However, the increase in residential electricity prices is also related to specific cities and power suppliers. For example, the electricity price in Frankfurt where the author lives still remains at 28 euro cents/kilowatt hour, while the electricity price of another residential house in the mountain area where the author lives has jumped to 61 euro cents/kilowatt hour.

German residents are snapping up firewood for winter?

Yes. German residents buy firewood for winter every year.

According to a report from the University of Gottingen, after the reunification of Germany and Germany, the annual use of heating wood (Brennholz) in Germany has remained at the level of 100 million cubic meters, and another 100 million cubic meters of heating wood has been exported, which is equivalent to 2.4 cubic meters of heating wood per year for Germans.

From 1991 to 2015, Germany used wood for heating. The blue color represents Germany's own consumption and the red color represents exports.

Are German residents snapping up electric blankets?

No, Germans have no habit of using electric blankets.

In Germany, the electric blanket that can compete in the sales list is the Beurer brand in Germany and Dr Watson brand and Chinese shell brand Medisana. Among all the German supermarket chains visited by the author, there is no electric blanket sales except for the local Beurer brand.

How does the German manufacturing industry suffer from the energy crisis?

According to the data of the German Network Agency, the natural gas early warning mechanism is to ensure the gas consumption of residents at the expense of industry. The gas consumption of the industrial sector in 2022 will be less than that of the same period in 2021.

Average daily use of natural gas in Germany every month. Blue means 2021, orange means 2022.

According to the data of the German Bureau of Statistics, Germany's industrial output value fell 3.1%, 2.5% and 1.5% year on year from March to May this year, respectively. Since then, the industrial sector has gradually recovered to a year-on-year decline of 0.8% in July and a year-on-year rise of 2.1% in August. However, the energy intensive output value in August still fell 2.1% year-on-year, but it has narrowed compared with the average year-on-year decline of 5.4% from February to May this year. Compared with the industrial output struggling on the verge of recession, the number of industrial orders in Germany has dropped significantly. The number of industrial orders in July this year decreased by 11% year on year, while the initial number of orders in August still decreased by 4.1% year on year.

J ö rg Kr ä mer, chief economist of Commerzbank, said that all economic indicators pointed to a recession in Germany. Deutsche Bank estimates that Germany's industrial output will shrink by 2.5% this year and may shrink by 5% next year.