Despite the sharp rise in prices, gas heaters remain popular.
Last year, 653,000 gas heaters were newly installed in Germany.
That is 5 percent more than in the previous year - and also far more than new systems for biomass, electronic heat pumps and oil heating combined.
With a total of around 20 million customers and thus every second household, the gas industry prides itself on being the most important heat generator in the country.
The "Zukunft Gas" association also emphasized its importance as the most important energy source in industry on Wednesday: last year, natural gas accounted for 31 percent, ahead of electricity, coal, oil and others.
Overall, natural gas consumption rose by almost 4 percent.
Jan Hauser
Editor in Business.
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Julia Loehr
Business correspondent in Berlin.
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However, last year customers had to pay significantly more than usual for natural gas.
The stock market prices had at times increased more than tenfold due to an increase in demand and are still above the level of a year ago.
There is no relief in sight.
In view of the restructuring of the energy system, further fluctuating prices are to be expected.
The industry refers to the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, which became a political pawn in the conflict between the West and Russia.
"The commissioning of Nord Stream 2 would have a dampening effect on the price," said Gregor Pett, gas specialist at the energy supplier Uniper.
Timm Kehler, CEO of Zukunft Gas, takes a similar view because this would reduce transport costs.
Due to official procedures, Nord Stream 2 will not be able to go into operation until the second half of the year at the earliest,
“You have to tackle the problem at the root”
In view of the high prices, the federal government is looking at energy costs overall and wants to relieve consumers.
The focus of Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is the abolition of the EEG surcharge.
The 3.7 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity should not be eliminated until the beginning of 2023, as agreed in the coalition agreement, but already this summer, probably on July 1st.
An average family should save around 150 euros by eliminating the EEG surcharge.
However, if electricity prices continue to rise so sharply, many households will have to pay more even without the surcharge.
In principle, the SPD, Greens and FDP agree on the preference.
However, Habeck wants to ensure that the electricity providers actually pass on the savings to their customers.
How this can be done legally is currently being examined.
The natural gas industry is opposed to imposing a price reduction on this.
"You have to get to the root of the problem," Pett said.
The electricity prices are not only high because of the EEG surcharge.
If the levy falls, it is clear that prices will not fall to the same extent.
As far as gas is concerned, Habeck wants to increase security of supply by next winter.
There are two options: building up a state gas reserve or specifying what level the gas storage tanks must have at a certain point in time.
The tendency is towards the latter model, as is already practiced in Italy.
"We must not run into a situation like the one we have experienced now," Habeck said last week in the Bundestag.
"That would be really negligent."
Targeted support for low-income people
At the same time, plans for the construction of terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Brunsbüttel and Wilhelmshaven are picking up speed again.
The Greens think little of the fact that money - possibly also state subsidies - is being invested in the expansion of the gas infrastructure.
But the terminals could reduce dependence on Russian gas, albeit in the longer term rather than the short term.
The supply of natural gas is increasingly becoming the focus of politics.
"We shouldn't go into the winter with such a low fill level," said Pott.
This requires more gas than is available.
The gas storage facilities in Germany are currently about 34 percent full, which is very low for this time of year.
The federal government relies on natural gas to get by on the way to climate neutrality without nuclear power and coal-fired power generation.
However, the current gas-fired power plants are not sufficient for this: Zukunft Gas expects 20 to 30 gigawatts of new gas-fired power plant capacity in Germany by 2030 and an investment volume of around 30 billion euros.
The federal government must stimulate investments in new gas-fired power plants in the short term, said Kehler.
Due to the uncertain framework conditions, only a few investors are currently active in the market.
The energy ministers of the federal states met on Wednesday to discuss the rise in energy prices.
Habeck continues his advertising tour for the expansion of renewable energies on Monday and travels to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Meanwhile, calls from the Union for more relief for consumers are getting louder.
The parliamentary group wants to submit a motion to the Bundestag next week, according to which various energy taxes are to be reduced.
Habeck is against relief on a broad front.
He prefers to specifically support low-income people.