Energy Newsletter

Spot gas prices in Germany rose above €60/MWh in March 2026 – approximately 6x higher than in the USA. The price shock was triggered by the US-Israeli war against Iran and the Qatar LNG facility failure. The energy crisis massively jeopardizes the competitiveness of German industry and forces energy providers to return to coal.

Leaked lobby papers show RWE and E.ON actively brake the expansion of renewable energies and battery storage to push through gas and hybrid power plants. Suspicion of corruption against high government officials due to former positions at E.ON increases distrust. The major corporations use their grid infrastructure dominance for political influence.

Federal Network Agency warns: The German power grid will be partially overloaded in 2026, with 45 GW of redispatch capacity missing and insufficient dispatchable power plants. With 1.4 million more PV systems than 2025, the hellbrise risk increases critically. Grid connections are completely overloaded – Amprion CEO compares the shortage to pasta during the Corona crisis.

E.ON announces €57 billion in investments (2026–2030), RWE plans €35 billion in 40 GW of green capacity through 2031. Despite green rhetoric, RWE is expanding strongly in US gas energy ($19 billion). E.ON stock crashes on 03/20 by 5.67% despite investment offensive – market signals skepticism about profitability under price pressure.

German electricity production reached record levels in 2026 with 78.5% renewable mix on sunny days, yet CO₂ emissions from electricity production are not declining structurally. 25 years of energy transition led to Europe's highest electricity prices and 10x higher CO₂ values per kWh than France. The merit order through gas prices remains systemically problematic, despite renewable records.