Germany’s steel and metals fabricators are alarmed about a doubling of power grid fees they face in 2024.
Grid operators have announced an increase of the fees from 3.12 to 6.43 euro cents (3.40-7.02 US cents) per kilowatt hour, as the federal government will be axing its subsidies. Fabricators federation WSM is calling on the economy ministry for an explanation for the measure, which will hit companies and consumers, it says in a statement received by Kallanish.
The subsidies used to amount to €5.5 billion, while the total of grid fees amounts to around €30 billion. “Why would this abandonment cause a doubling of fees for us? There is no explanation for it,” says WSM managing director Christian Vietmeyer.
WSM also questions an increase in the total fees, which will rise from €28 billion to €31 billion. “Why an increase of 10%, while regular energy actually drops in price due to lower costs for fuels?” asks WSM’s head of energy and industry policy, Holger Ade.
The federation has called on economy minister Robert Habeck to clarify the hikes. “The government must question these increases, and cannot put them on the shoulders of users and consumers alone. We need a cap and sharing of the pain, and that includes the energy industry,” WSM says.
Steelmakers federation WV Stahl, too, has addressed the topic. It issued a statement by the association of energy-intensive industries (EID), which includes construction materials, paper, chemicals, glass, and nonferrous metals. “In order to survive in international competition, and to achieve the transition to climate-friendly technologies, we need internationally competitive power costs. This includes a stabilisation of grid fees,” EID writes.
Christian Koehl Germany
