The era of cheap energy for all in Germany is “over”, the head of country’s national grid has claimed.
Klaus Müller, who serves as the President of the Federal Network Agency, warned the public in an interview on December 27 not to expect prices to be closer to those before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine “anytime soon”.
Energy prices are lower than when the assault first started but still much higher than prior to the initial action. Today, the price is floating between the post-assault high and the pre-war low.
“The wholesale prices for electricity have fallen significantly compared to 2022. Nevertheless, the price level is higher than before the Russian war of aggression,” he said.
“Nothing will change that quickly.”
Müller added that would remain the case until Germany fully replaced fossil-fuel power generation with renewables.
“The time of cheap energy is over; at least as long as we continue to consume large amounts of conventionally generated energy,” he stated.
“This refers to energy from fossil, environmentally harmful sources such as coal,” he added, adding that operating hydrocarbon power plants was “expensive”.
Anne Borg, Principal of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, has resigned after it came to light she publicly derided two of her researchers, apparently at the behest of the renewable energy industry. https://t.co/qi6CGNfU17
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 18, 2023
Müller went on to defend the German Government’s decision to pull back on subsidies for private energy customers in the country, arguing that such austerity measures would need to be implemented eventually considering the current “dire” economic circumstances.
His claim that the use of carbon-based energy generation methods was the source of Germany’s problems does not appear to stand up to scrutiny.
According to European Union sources, electricity prices for German households amounted to around 41.25 cents per kilowatt-hour, with more than half of the country’s energy coming from renewable sources for much of the first half of 2023.
By contrast, average electricity prices for private households in the US came in at 24 cents per kilowatt-hour, despite only 20 per cent of the country’s electricity coming from renewables.
Elsewhere, consumer electricity prices in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates amounted to less than 2 cents per kilowatt-hour.
The majority of this cheap energy is generated via natural gas-fuelled power plants.
China looks set to benefit from the European Union’s latest big push to develop its own wind-energy sector, experts say. https://t.co/CFXva4ycp9
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) December 21, 2023
