Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) hopes for the introduction of an industrial electricity price by next spring. Then the electricity price brakes expired. "And in my opinion, at the latest, then at the latest is the moment when you should get involved in implementing such a concept," Habeck said on Monday in Berlin.
The minister had already presented a concept at the beginning of May. In the long term, a "transformation electricity price" is planned. The industry should benefit from low-cost electricity from renewable energies. However, measures to do so would take time, the paper said. For this reason, in an intermediate phase until 2030, there should be a "bridge electricity price" of 6 cents per kilowatt hour for a "clearly defined" group of recipients, which would have to be financed from public funds.
For Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the discussed plans for a subsidized industrial electricity price are a temporary solution. "The energy industry cannot become a permanent subsidy case for the Federal Republic of Germany," Scholz said on Monday in a speech to the CDU Economic Council in Berlin. "That can't go well in any country, and it wouldn't work here either." His government is pursuing the goal that "we have sufficient electricity production capacities for our country, but they must then be cheap without subsidies".
According to Scholz, planning times are a reason for high prices
Scholz called for a comprehensive acceleration of planning in order to expand the production of renewable energies and thus make them cheaper. "We have to make sure that we have cheap production conditions for electricity, so that we actually have cheap electricity prices in Germany for the future," he said.
Habeck's working paper from the beginning of May provides for a transitional cap on the price of electricity for energy-intensive industries that are in international competition at six cents per kilowatt hour with state funds. This is to prevent the exodus of important companies until enough electricity is produced with renewables to keep the price low without subsidies.
Habeck is in favour of an introduction by next spring. Politically, the traffic light party FDP in particular has so far rejected the plans. The money is to come from the Economic Stabilisation Fund. Habeck said on Monday that he expected annual costs of an average of four billion euros a year, which would fall over time. In the beginning it might be six billion euros, later two billion.
BDI calls for clarity on the bridge
Habeck exchanged views on the issue with business, employer and trade union representatives on Monday. The President of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Siegfried Russwurm, emphasized with regard to the "bridge electricity price" that clarity is also needed about "what the shore looks like, to which we now have to build bridges".
The faster expansion of renewable energies and storage facilities is indispensable, but so is the construction of hydrogen-capable gas-fired power plants with considerable capacity. But short-term measures are also needed. "Companies of all sizes, from medium-sized companies to large corporations, whose competitiveness and viability are threatened by exorbitantly high electricity prices, need relief now."
The first chairman of IG Metall, Jörg Hofmann, described the concentration on energy-intensive industry as the right thing to do. He warned of the disappearance of entire industries. Without the European steel industry, the innovative strength of the automotive industry would not exist, and the situation would be similar in mechanical engineering. "Public investment also requires guarantees of good work for employees." This means collectively agreed work at the previous locations.