Germany’s gas consumption rose too much last week to levels higher than in previous years, and without considerable gas conservation—including from households—Europe’s biggest economy will find it difficult to avoid gas shortages this winter, Germany’s Federal Network Agency, Bundesnetzagentur, said on Thursday. Starting from today, the agency—the regulator to impose rationing in case of severe shortages—will publish weekly figures about gas consumption in Germany. Last week’s consumption from businesses and households at 483 GWh/week was well above the average seen throughout the 2018 to 2021 period when it was 422 GWh/week. Last week, German gas consumption rose by 14.5 percent compared to the average of the previous years, mostly because that week was colder than comparable weeks in the past four years. However, the savings needed to avoid gas shortages should be achieved regardless of temperatures, the German regulator said today. “Without significant savings, also in the private sector, […]