Germany is at the top of the list for electricity prices in Europe. A new study by the Swedish price comparison portal Finansvalp shows the wide range, which leads to cost disadvantages for energy-intensive companies in particular. This is also a major obstacle to climate transformation, as climate-friendly technologies tend to rely on the abundant availability of cheap electricity.

As the portal shows, based on data from the EU statistics authority Eurostat, the average price in the eurozone for a megawatt hour of electricity is around 305 euros. In Germany, the most expensive country, it is 416 euros, while the cheapest electricity is available in Hungary at just under 111 euros. This partly explains some recent relocations of production by German manufacturers.

Finansvalp CEO Olle Pettersson attributes the exceptionally low electricity prices in Hungary and Bulgaria to the price control measures in place there. However, the lower costs are also influenced by the fact that „these countries continue to rely on coal and nuclear power, which are cheaper than renewable energy sources“.

In contrast, Germany and Belgium are heavily dependent on expensive natural gas to generate electricity. In addition, „the curbing of their nuclear and coal capacities, in conjunction with the general European energy crisis, has led to the inhabitants of these countries being confronted with particularly high costs“.

For some time now, business associations have been calling on politicians to cap the price of electricity, or subsidise it for some particularly impacted sectors, in order to be able to keep up internationally in terms of costs.

In its programme for the upcoming Bundestag elections, the CDU/CSU pledges to use revenue from CO2 emissions trading to reduce grid charges and electricity taxes. The SPD also wants to reduce grid fees via a debt-financed German fund. There is also a commitment to a „bridge electricity price“ for the steel industry. The Greens are setting out a combination of system optimisation, tax cuts and state subsidies.

The Federal Network Agency is now ensuring greater transparency in electricity costs in Germany. It has published a new index for the industrial electricity price. The index value of 100 was set for January 2021. The highest value was 724 index points in August 2022, before falling back to just under 168 points. However, the electricity price has been much lower in the recent past: Around 125 points were measured in February 2024. In comparison, in January 2018, it was 76 points. Thus German industry is now paying almost twice as much for electricity as before, despite prices stabilising following the initial energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.