Comparison Of Industrial Electricity Prices In The EU

By Paul Homewood

 

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/uks-crippling-energy-bill-for-industry/

 

I published this chart a couple of days ago, which showed how high electricity prices were for UK steelmakers. It prompted the question as to why Germany’s prices were not just as high, given their renewables agenda.

The simple answer is that Germany does not pass on these extra costs to the larger energy consumers.

 

DECC publish international comparisons of electricity prices for industrial users, split into four categories:

 

Industrial Electricity		Eurostat size band					Annual consumption (MWh)
Small		Band IB					20 – 499
Medium		Band ID					2,000 – 19,999
Large		Band IE					20,000 – 69,999
Very Large		Band IF					70,000 – 150,000

 

The prices for 2015 compare as follows: 

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/international-industrial-energy-prices

 

We can see that UK prices are consistently above the EU15 median, but particularly so as consumers get bigger. In contrast, German prices are higher than ours for small users, but get progressively less, as you go up the scale.

Interestingly, Italy’s prices are also comparatively high, which may partly explain their economic struggles in recent years.

 

 

 

Ironically, a report just out from the German research institute Prognos is warning that EU proposals to tighten up the Emissions Trading Scheme could spell the death knell for the German steel industry, as GWPF report:

 

The planned reform of CO2 emissions trading in Europe threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs in Germany. This is the conclusion of a study by the research institute Prognos and commissioned by the German Steel Association. “The industrial business model of the German economy is at stake,” warned association president Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff.

A significantly tougher Emissions Trading Scheme, as envisaged by Brussels from 2021 onwards, could in a few years lead to a rapidly progressing de-industrialisation in important parts of the value chain since nothing like it exists anywhere else in the world. “The consequences for the German economy would be grave,” Kerkhoff said.

According to the Prognos study, production and employment in the German steel industry would collapse by two thirds by 2030. “Add to that employment losses in upstream and downstream industries,” the study says. And that’s not all: “The consequences go far beyond the industrial value chain,” study author Jan Limbers from Prognos. The researcher sees a total of 380,000 jobs at significant risk, mostly in the services sector, e.g. in retail and in the hospitality industry or in logistics and finance. “Businesses and households will have less income for consumption and investment,” said Limbers who also sees a decline in gross domestic product of 30 billion euros.

http://www.thegwpf.com/eu-climate-policy-threatens-future-of-european-steel-industry/

 

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