Industry federation warns of industry exodus from Germany due to power costs

Germany’s largest industry federation, BDI, warns that high power prices could lead to an exodus of companies to cheaper production locations abroad, news agency dpa reports in an article carried by Spiegel Online. BDI head Dieter Kempf said Germany had to cease “going it alone” on national energy policy to prevent power price rises and jobs moving abroad. “A guiding principle of energy and climate policy should not be to weaken but rather to strengthen industrial competitiveness,” Kempf said. The BDI president said Germany’s continued economic boom, high net immigration levels and an accelerated nuclear exit had changed the calculus for Germany’s climate protection targets. Industry continued to back the Paris Climate Agreement, he said, but it was necessary to look at its long-term aims rather than try to fulfil short-term emissions reduction targets at all costs. The BDI will publish an extensive study on climate protection on 18 January, he added.

Read the article in German here.

See the CLEW factsheets Industrial power prices and the Energiewende and What business thinks of the energy transition, the dossier Energiewende effects on power prices, costs and industry, and the CLEW Preview2018 interview Cutting power costs tops German industry’s agenda – DIHK for more information.