German demand for oil, gas, district heating up nearly a quarter during 2024/'25 heating season
Clean Energy Wire
The average heating consumption of oil, gas and district heating rose by over 23 percent in Germany between October 2024 and February 2025 compared to the previous heating season, according to energy service provider Techem. Particularly the use of gas for heating saw an increase of 28 percent, Techem said.
"The latest figures show that the energy saving efforts of recent years have tailed off," CEO Matthias Hartmann said. "With energy prices remaining high, many consumers will therefore face additional costs in their upcoming heating bills."
According to price comparison website Verivox, the heating requirement of an average household in Germany rose by 11 percent between September and March compared to the same period the previous year, with heating costs for households with a gas boiler increasing by around 23 percent. "In addition to the colder temperatures, the return to the full VAT rate of 19 percent on natural gas in April 2024 has also driven up gas costs for households," said Thorsten Storck, energy expert at Verivox.
Making German homes less climate-damaging and keeping them affordable for residents at the same time will be a central task for the country's next government. The cost of buying and running a new gas boiler in Germany is predicted to be twice as high as a heat pump over a 20-year period, according to a report by non-profit consultancy co2online. While climate-friendly heating technologies may now be predominant in new buildings in Germany, four in five existing homes are still heated with oil or gas, a report by the German Energy Agency (dena) found.
