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2022 was the most successful year in the German pellet industry so far, both in terms of sales of heating systems and stoves and the production of wood pellets. This is reported by the German Energy Wood and Pellet Association (DEPV).<\/p>\n
For the first time, more than 100,000 pellet furnaces were sold and the production of pellets reached almost 3.6 million tons.<\/p>\n
Criticism of German energy policy<\/strong><\/p>\n As gratifying as the publication of the market figures from the previous year is, the view into the future is just as cautious, says DEPV Managing Director Martin Bentele. While the previous year's result was still based on the previous government's clever subsidy policy, especially the oil replacement premium, the current federal government is acting unilaterally and with blinkers on when it comes to shaping the energy transition on the heating market.<\/p>\n DEPV calls for improvements<\/strong><\/p>\n Bentele fears that the significant reduction in subsidies, combined with an undifferentiated and ideologically critical attitude towards wood energy, will be counterproductive and result in a setback in CO2 reduction on the heating market.<\/p>\n This is already clear from the number of applications for funding submitted in January 2023, which is only a shadow of the past few years. The federal government's current energy policy must be significantly improved if it is not to lead to a revival of oil and gas heating, as the first figures in the current year give reason to fear.<\/p>\n 2022 showed turbulent market development<\/strong><\/p>\n The expansion of pellet systems in Germany in 2022 was more rapid than ever. More than 123,000 new heat generators were installed. With 76,000 systems, pellet central heating systems with an output of up to 50 kilowatts (kW) were clearly in the majority, with sales increasing by 24% compared to the previous year. These systems are primarily used to replace oil heating systems in detached and semi-detached houses.<\/p>\n The demand for air-guided pellet stoves has also increased significantly, as the record number of 46,000 stoves shows. There were also 1,400 larger boilers (> 50 kW), which are used for heating networks or to generate process heat in trade and industry.<\/p>\n Boilers expected to fall<\/strong><\/p>\n The stock of pellet-powered heat generators in Germany has thus increased to 680,000 systems. They saved more than 4 million tons of greenhouse gases in the heating sector in 2022. For the current year, the DEPV sees the heating market in the first half of the year as being fairly busy due to the surplus from the previous year.<\/p>\n For boiler sales, DEPV assumes a decline of 25% overall, while slight growth is still expected for pellet stoves, which would mean a total of almost 110,000 new heat generators.<\/p>\n Production and consumption of wood pellets in Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n With another record production of 3.57 million tons of pellets produced in 2022, Germany is continuing to expand its leading role in Europe. Globally, only North America produces more pellets. Due to the strong increase in heat generators, more than 3 million tons of pellets were consumed in Germany for the first time in the previous year. Germany thus continues to have a positive foreign trade balance.<\/p>\n Panic buying caused price spikes<\/strong><\/p>\n Otherwise, the year 2022 was primarily determined by the confusion in the energy markets caused by the war. The storage hectic that was recorded in the summer led to a previously unknown price increase for the energy source pellets with a maximum price of \u20ac763.76\/t in September 2022.<\/p>\n Despite what it considers a failed German energy policy, the DEPV expects a further increase in production of wood pellets in 2023.<\/p>\n The well-stocked consumer warehouses and the lack of demand then led to the beginning of a normalization of the pellet price in winter, which has continued continuously so far in 2023. The current pellet price is 360 \u20ac\/t. In the current year, the DEPV expects a slight increase in pellet production to 3.7 million tons.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 2022 was the most successful year in the German pellet industry so far, both in terms of sales of heating systems and stoves and the production of wood pellets. This is reported by the German Energy Wood and Pellet Association … Continue reading