Germany’s primary energy consumption slightly decreased during the first three months of the year. According to the Energy Balance Working Group (AG Energiebilanzen), the total consumption was modeled to be 1.7 percentage points lower compared to the same period last year, falling to 3,059 petajoules (PJ) or 104.4 million tons of lignite equivalents. The group links this decline primarily to the ongoing weak economic climate. Although the overall GDP grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026, production in several energy-intensive sectors significantly declined. This reduction was partially offset by increased consumption in the space heating market due to unusually cold weather in January.
The AG Energiebilanzen noted that lower energy import prices seen in the first quarter could have boosted consumption, but the effect was muted due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route and a sharp rise in crude oil and natural gas prices starting in early March.
Statistically, shifting energy carrier mixtures also played a role. Since the first quarter of 2026 saw a substantial increase in electricity generated from renewables, this calculated a saving in primary energy. Because international conventions rate renewable energy generation with a 100% efficiency, a lower wind power output in the previous quarter had previously created an opposite effect. Excluding the consumption-boosting impact of the colder weather compared to the prior year, the primary energy consumption was, according to the group’s calculations, actually down by 2.2 percent.
Analyzing specific fuels, the consumption of mineral oil dropped by 5 percent. Gasoline consumption fell slightly by 0.5 percent, while the demand for diesel decreased by about 5 percent. Deliveries of raw gasoline, particularly to the chemical industry, saw a decline of nearly 2 percent, mainly due to economic factors. Aviation fuel use fell by 5.5 percent, and the sales of light heating oil recorded a significant drop of over 10 percent. The working group suggested that consumers may not have utilized the relatively favorable prices during January and February to replenish heating oil stocks, and were consequently surprised by the drastic price increases in March, leading to pronounced backrestraint in purchases.
In the first quarter of 2026, natural gas consumption was slightly lower than the previous year (a decrease of 1.4 percent). Gains in space heating, electricity, and district heating consumption counterbalanced the drops seen in industrial usage. Lignite consumption, however, increased by 3.5 percent in the first three months. While the use of lignite in power stations dropped by 3.9 percent, deliveries to the iron and steel industry rose by 6.5 percent.
Brown coal consumption decreased by over 7 percent in the first quarter. Its generation declined by a similar amount. This drop is attributed not only to the ongoing phase-out of power plants but also to the increased need for stable power generation from wind energy, which saw highly variable feed-in rates, requiring brown coal plants to adjust demand accordingly.
Renewable energy sources saw a notable overall growth of 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous year. This development was largely driven by a 28 percent increase in wind power generation compared to the extremely low wind output of the previous quarter. Solar power generation rose by 3 percent. Furthermore, the colder climate led to higher reliance on renewables for heating purposes (up 4 percent), despite a 2 percent drop in biofuels sales.
In the first quarter of 2026, Germany once again exported more electricity to foreign countries than it imported. Electricity exports rose by 20.6 percent, reaching 19.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), while electricity imports fell by 15.9 percent, totaling 16.0 billion kWh.
Finally, estimated energy-related CO2 emissions decreased by approximately 2.5 percent compared to the prior quarter, which represents a reduction of around 4.5 million tons.
