Sunbeams Penerate Heavy Steam and Smoke in A Gray Factory Hall on aCold February Morning The cold temperature level are difficult to disregard around the lössnitz shop in the Eastern German State ofSaxony
But if you stroll past among the Tall Vats, you can really feel the substantial warmth. Glowing Molten Metal is Transported Over the Heads of the Workers To The Spot Where It Will Be Cast Into Shape.
The Foundry Produces Parts for Car Companies Like Audi, BMW andPorsche Thesis Days, Managing Director Max Jankowsky and his Team of 85 Employees have a great deal to bother with.
“The Current Electricity Prices are Really Painful.
The Company was Founded 176 Years Ago and Has Seen Two World Wars and Many Economic Crises Come andGo Jankowsky’s Grandfather Once Ran the Business, Now Max Jankowsky is Worried concerning Its Future.
Heart of the Industry
The Lössnitz Foundry is not the only firm that is having a hard time in the middle of adversse Production Conditions in Germany nowadays. Italian Steel Company Feralpi, which Employs 850 Workers at Three Different German Sites, Even Had To Temporarily Halt Production for some Days, General Manager Uwe Reinecke Told DW.
The scenario is comparable at the Georgsmarienh ütte Steelworks, Where Currently the More than 6.000 Workers are to generate steel just in the evening and onWeekends CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Anne-Marie Gro ßmann Told Dw that the Reason for this was the power rate, which is Lower at thesis Times Compared with the Price During Normal Weekday Working Hours.
Both Feralpi and Georgsmarienh ütte Melt Their Steel with Electricity, with the Latter Company Consuming More Electricity A Year Than An Average City of 150,000 Inhabitants, According toTheir Own Figures
Steel Producers and Foundries Make Some of the Most Basic Materials for Germany’s Economy: The Metals where Cars, Bridges and Rails are made.
Last Year, the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) Surveyed Over 300 Companies that utilize a great deal of power in Germany to assess their Opinions concerning the Current Government’s Policies on Energy Transition and Climate Protection.
Around 45% of Them Said They Are Planning to Reduce Production – Or Already Have Done So – Due toHigh Energy Costs Some are also having fun with the concept of moving abroad.
Fluctuating Prices
In Germany, the Industrial Electricity Price Includes Levies, Taxes and Grid Fees, Among various otherThings Grid Fees are a fee imposed for using the power grid.
Germany So Produces A Lot of Electricity from Gas-Fired Power Plants When Russia Attacked Ukraine in February 2022 and Russian Gas Supplies to Germany Dried Up, The Price ofElectricity So Skyrocketed Since after that, However, The Industrial Electricity Price Has Fallen Again toPrewar Levels
Achim Dercks, Deputy Ceo of the Dihk Industry Group, Claims Energy Prices Here Are Still “Among the Highest in the World.” Additionally, Germany is “No Longer Competitive” as a Manufacturing Hub Due to Energy Costs “Neither in Europe Nor Globally,” Hey Said.
And Indeed, The Industrial Electricity Price in the United States was much Lower According to Data from 2023, Costing Companies About Seven Euro Cents Per Kilowatt-Hour, Compared with About 20 Euro Cents for Electricity in Germany.
In China, the rate had to do with Eight Cents using Kilowatt-Hour in 2023, According to a Study by the Bavarian Business Association (VBW).
Within Europe Germany’s Industrial Electricity Prices Were Just the Average in 2022. Companies in Germany Consuming More than 150 Gigawatt-Hours Per Year Paid Roughhly 10% More Than The EU Average, According to the VBWStudy For Companies with a Consumption of 70 to 150 Gigawatt-Hours Per Year Across Europe, Germany was real around standard.
However, Since Prices Were At Their Highest in 2022 Due to the War in Ukraine, thesis Numbers Provide A Difficult Basis for versusComparison
Difficult Comparisons
In completion, there is no solitary commercial power rate. Depending on Size, Industry and Energy Consumption, there are various price cuts on tax obligations or network fees. A huge bakeshop will certainly pay a really various rate than a massive steel million.
International Comparisons Are alsoHarder This is Because Electricity Prices for End Consumers are constantly affected by the purchaing power in the corresponding nation, Says Leonhard Probst from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems.
“For example, you wouldn’t compare the price of Bread in Germany to that in Bulgaria,” Probst Told DW.
The End Consumer Price is the Price the Customer Pays, Including Levies, Network Charges andTaxes So, The Numbers Should be watched with care and just provide a harsh introduction.
Future Developments
Lössnitz Foundry’s Max Jankowsky Points to a Pile of Coke in Front ofHis Factory Hall White Crystals Cover theBlack Surface Here, they still utilize numerous standard melting techniques.
But when utilizing nonrenewable fuel sources there is an added expense in Germany and the EU: carbon prices. This Increases the Cost of Polluting Fuels, Making Melting with Coke Unprofitible in the Long Term.
Jankowsky Wants to Switch From Fossil Fuels to Electric Melting, But the Electricity Prices Are Cause for Concern,Too “We want to melt Electrically here in the future, but it feel like we are running into open knife,” Heer Said. AS A Medium-Sized Company, they would certainly require even more assistance for the improvement, He Adds.
However, Leonhard Probst From the Fraunhofer Institute and Swantje Fiedler, Scientific Director of the Forum for Ecological Market Economy, Expect Electricity Prices to Stabilize and Continue to “Fall over time” with the development of sustainableEnergy But Will “Over Time” Be Fast Enough For Companies Like the Lössnitz Foundry?
On February 23,German Voters Go To The Polls Many political events have actually assured to support or Lower Electricity Taxes and Network Charges.
This short article was initial in German.
