The new bill calls for a 26.5% reduction in final energy consumption in the country by 2030 compared to 2008 levels. After that, savings are expected to continue to decline by 45% by 2045 The declared rhythm can be called a shock without exaggeration. Germany has already saved energy, but in twelve years – from 2008 to 2020 – it has only managed to reduce its energy consumption by 6%, which until now was not considered the worst result. Now the Germans are offered to accelerate several times at once. Citizens will have to retrofit their homes to be more energy efficient, and businesses will have to install energy management systems and continuously report on the saving measures taken. Sanctions are foreseen in case of violation of the law.
The bill pays particular attention to digital data centers – according to the Ministry of Economy, they consume too much energy to cool their servers and, at the same time, release a significant part of it into the air in the form of waste heat. Therefore, within the next two years, all German data centers will have to switch completely to energy from renewable sources and heat will have to be diverted to local heating systems. If for some reason this is not possible, the construction of a new center will simply not be allowed.
A new bill foresees a 26.5% reduction in final energy consumption in Germany by 2030
German digital business association Bitkom warns that all of this could end very badly for Germany – data centers will move to other countries and all plans to digitize the German economy may be terminated. “This bill pushes data centers out of the country, when they are essential to achieve digitization and ensure digital sovereignty,” notes Bitkom. It is simply impossible to meet all the requirements of the new law, according to the association. The Union of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry has already calculated four possible scenarios for the development of the economy if the law is passed. And all these scenarios do not bode well. GDP will continue to grow in only one of them, and then at an extremely low rate. In the other three, the German economy is expecting a prolonged fall. “Energy saving targets are very easy to achieve – for that you just need to stop production. But that won’t increase efficiency in any way,” they tell the Union of Chambers of Commerce and industry.
Proponents of the new bill, in turn, believe businesses are simply panicking. At the same time, they cite as examples the Baltic countries and Romania, which in various rankings are significantly ahead of Germany in terms of industrial energy efficiency. Germany will not have to save energy alone, neighboring Austria, for example, plans to reduce its energy consumption by 18%. But for the Germans, this does not make the task any easier.
