Energy Newsletter

Wholesale electricity prices in Germany climbed to nearly €138/MWh – highest level in 3 years. Expensive gas prices continue to set the marginal price, while households must reckon with ~37 ct/kWh (highest in Europe). The energy transition does not lead to cheaper electricity, but to massive cost increases for industry and consumers.

Gas prices rose from €28/MWh (January) to €74/MWh – a plus of 160 percent. European gas storage stands at only 71%, well below the EU standard of 90%, with an expected deficit of 14 billion m³ in winter. These bottlenecks endanger electricity supply security and drive energy costs for the entire EU upward.

E.ON completed acquisition of OVO Energy; afterward, Octopus, British Gas, and E.ON control 74% of the UK energy market. This market concentration strengthens the market power of major energy suppliers and reduces competition in an already strained European energy market.

EnBW brought online Germany's largest offshore wind farm (He Dreiht, 960 MW) without government subsidies. At the same time, expansion data shows massive backlogs: solar reached 57% of targets, wind only 41%, while €36 billion in subsidies were already spent by 2026 (vs. planned €30 billion). The energy transition causes exploding costs with insufficient expansion pace.

All four transmission system operators (50Hertz, Amprion, TenneT, TransnetBW) announced network charge increases of over 20% for 2027. This cost explosion results from massive grid expansion investments (16,776 planned km, only 2,919 km completed so far) and further destabilizes industrial and household electricity prices.