August 2022
In the midst of the Energiewende (energy transition), Germany still relies heavily on imports of fossil fuels as its domestic resources are largely depleted or their extraction is too costly.
AME’s 2022 full year forecast for Germany’s natural gas demand is 248MMcmpd, flat year on year. Natural gas demand from Germany, the largest consumer of gas in Europe, is expected to decrease in the September quarter if the Nord Stream 1 pipeline does not resume operations at full capacity of 160MMcmpd.  Germany, which has managed to reduce its reliance on imported Russian gas from 55% to about 35% of its demand since the start of the Ukraine war, is still heavily reliant on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which closed down in July due to scheduled maintenance works. The two other pipelines (Mallow and Waidhaus) that usually carry Russian gas to Germany are also currently not servicing the country.  Half of Germany's 41.5 million households use natural gas for heating while industry accounts for roughly a third of national demand. In 2021 natural gas sources accounted for 89TWh or 15.3% of Germany’s gross power production.