BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 6. In 2023, gas demand in Europe is forecast to record a decline of 3% compared to 2022, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) said, Trend reports.
“This will be driven by the continuing implementation of the EU policy to reduce gas consumption. In addition, the mild weather that is already recorded in Q1 2023 will reduce the gas demand for heating in the EU. Another factor that could harm gas consumption in Europe is the continuous rise of wind and solar installed capacity, which will increase the share of renewables in the electricity mix,” reads the GECF report on gas market.
The report reveals that in 2022, The European Union’s gas consumption was down by 10% y-o-y to reach 354 bcm, which represents the highest y-o-y drop recorded in the EU in the last decade.
“The decline in gas consumption was mainly seen in Germany, the UK, Türkiye, Italy, France and Spain with a decrease of 16%, 11%, 12%, 9.5%, 9% and 3.6% y-o-y, respectively. The decline was mainly attributed to the sustained high gas prices that made the fuel less competitive against coal in the power generation and industrial sectors. In addition to that, the strong expansion of renewables affected gas demand in the power generation sector. Residential sector demand was also affected as the weather conditions were above the norm compared to the previous years,” GECF analysts note.
In addition, the implementation of the EU regulation 2022/1369 of 5 August 2022 on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas, which contributed to the decline.
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