Strom- und Gaspreise für heimische Industrieunternehmen im internationalen und intertemporalen Vergleich
Diskussionspapier
This article uses an international comparison to demonstrate once again that Germany is among the countries with well above-average electricity prices and the highest gas prices in the world. For example, in 2024, gas prices for German and European industry were around five times higher than in the North American countries – the USA, Canada and Mexico – where industrial gas prices stood at around one cent per kilowatt-hour in 2024. When it comes to electricity, however, the price differences for industry are not as significant as those for natural gas. Furthermore, Germany has the power to reduce electricity prices. In the short term, all levies and surcharges – which averaged 2.75 cents per kilowatt-hour for the most electricity-intensive companies in 2025 – should in future be paid for out of tax revenue rather than by electricity consumers. In the medium to long term, following the reduction in supply resulting from the phase-out of coal and nuclear power, a significant, technology-neutral expansion of the electricity supply could be an effective lever for sustainably reducing electricity prices in Germany. Restricting the expansion of supply to renewable energies, supplemented by natural gas-fired power stations as reserve capacity, would, on the other hand, not lead to a reduction in electricity prices due to sharply rising system costs. This has been demonstrated by experience and is corroborated by the study by Grimm, Oechsle and Zöttl (2024). A massive, technology-neutral expansion of electricity generation, on the other hand, could help to reduce electricity prices sustainably. Thus, not least for reasons of security of electricity supply, the focus should be on continuing to operate coal-fired power stations for as long as the price of emission allowances makes this economically viable, but also on nuclear energy.
ISBN: 978-3-96973-415-5