These statistics were shared by Minister for Energy Claude Turmes at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Turmes did specify that December 2022 was a relatively cold month compared to November, when Luxembourg’s residents consumed 30% less than the year before.
The industrial sector did particularly well, cutting 45% of gas consumption compared to the last five Decembers. Industry consumption makes up one third of the country’s gas usage, with private households and offices ‘only’ consuming 10% less. The aim is to raise this bar to 15% in the private sector as well.
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“In 2023, the government will continue to do its utmost to reduce the impact of the energy crisis on households, while accelerating and facilitating the energy transition in order to increase our resilience to future crises and to achieve our climate objectives”, said Turmes.
In terms of electricity, 8.5% less was consumed in December.
The energy minister admitted that some buildings only registered for an energy label following the start of the savings campaign. Thus, thanks to this campaign, a lot of wasted energy was prevented.
Saving energy should become a general attitude, and not just done during an energy crisis, said Turmes. But he remained cautious: “Even if we are on the right track, we must remain cautious: If the temperatures are very low over the next few months, gas consumption for heating could still increase considerably.”
