Although wholesale power prices have plunged by about a fifth this year due to renewable supplies, end users have to pay the second highest prices in Europe thanks to fees and charges. "Energy-intensive industry, which employs over 900,000 people, will have to leave Germany in the medium term if it does not get sustainably competitive energy prices," said the head of the BDI industry association last month. Utilities like E.ON and RWE, hit by plunging prices for wholesale power which they sell, are also piling on pressure to reduce green incentives. Some have threatened to shut thousands of megawatts worth of plants unless there is a big rethink. Merkel also needs to boost offshore wind, which was meant to be part of the energy switch but has proved costly, and the power grid needs to be expanded by up to 4,600 km and overhauled to cope with bursts of supply from renewables. But some local communities fiercely resist more power masts. ($1 = 0.7466 euros)
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 13:03:58 +0000
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