The electricity price in wholesaling in Germany has once again reached a higher level than recently.

As early as September, the hourly contract traded exceeded the threshold of 200 euros per megawatt hour - that was the highest value in almost ten years.

On Thursday evening, the peak in the Germany / Luxembourg market area doubled to EUR 442.90 per megawatt hour.

The last higher price was on November 25, 2008 in what was then the Germany / Austria market area at 494.26 euros per megawatt hour, as confirmed by the Federal Network Agency.

However, the daily average at 104.91 euros per megawatt hour was significantly lower than on Thursday at 302.53 euros.

Jan Hauser

Editor in business.

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Rising energy prices, to which increased demand and high natural gas prices around the world are contributing, are a cause for concern.

The Association of the Chemical Industry (VCI) is alarmed.

Jörg Rothermel, head of the energy, climate and raw materials department at the VCI, speaks of a “price shock for gas”.

He warns that this, in combination with the already highest industrial electricity prices in Europe and the world, is developing into a serious cost problem - for both energy-intensive and medium-sized companies and their competitiveness in Germany as a production location.

What will happen to the EEG surcharge?

Germany’s demand for electricity is increasing with increasing electrification and is therefore becoming more important for energy supply. "The level of electricity prices is also a major hurdle for the industry on its way to climate neutrality," says Rothermel of the FAZ. For this, production processes would have to be electrified. As a result, the electricity demand of the chemical industry in Germany will increase by a factor of five in the coming decades. "In order to produce competitively and climate-neutrally, we need an industrial electricity price of 4 to 5 cents per kilowatt hour," the industrial representative demands. The solution to this is an important task of the new federal government.

However, there is a long way to go to achieve these low electricity costs. The average electricity prices for industry were recently around 17.55 cents per kilowatt hour excluding electricity tax, as the Federal Association of Energy and Water Management (BDEW) calculated in the summer for consumption of 160,000 to 20 million kilowatt hours per year. Here, electricity-cost intensive companies from sectors that are in international competition pay fewer taxes and therefore have lower costs.

One reason for the high wholesale electricity prices is generally low renewables feed-in. So on Thursday the share of wind power was very low. In addition, there is a high level of conventional generation combined with higher raw material prices, especially for natural gas, but also for hard coal. The CO2 emissions certificate prices are also driving costs: in September 2021, an emissions certificate for one ton of CO2 was traded for an average of 61.20 euros. In September 2018, the price on the London ICE futures exchange was still 21.40 euros.

In the coming week the European Commission will present a 'tool kit' of tools that governments can use to respond to rising energy prices in accordance with EU law. For this purpose, compensation payments to poorer households are mentioned. German households pay the highest electricity prices in Europe, which is not least due to taxes, levies and levies, which make up about half of them. According to the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), the levy this year is 6.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The federal government is already supporting this price with compensation payments in the billions. In the coming week, the electricity network operators want to announce the exact amount of the EEG surcharge for the coming year. With this surcharge on the electricity price, subsidies for the expansion of wind or solar systems are paid.Due to the high electricity prices, the payments for green electricity could be lower and, according to initial calculations, the amount of the EEG surcharge could decrease.