appeal to the federal government
Federal states are demanding help for the chemical industry
8/30/2023 2:49 am
Several federal states are getting involved in the dispute over a subsidized electricity price for industry – in an appeal they agree with Habeck’s demand. But that’s not all.
In view of the high energy prices, seven federal states with sites in the chemical industry have called on the federal government to take measures to strengthen the sector. “Without resolute countermeasures, there is an acute danger that production and thus jobs will be relocated to more cost-effective locations abroad,” warned the states of Bavaria, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and the Rhineland, which are members of the “Alliance of States with Sites for the Chemical Industry”. -Palatinate, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in an appeal. Among other things, the countries advocate “an internationally competitive electricity price”.
An internationally competitive electricity price must also be open to energy-intensive medium-sized companies and operators of chemical parks, it said. To this end, the electricity tax should be reduced to the European minimum rate, surcharges and fees should be limited and the elimination of peak equalization in the electricity tax after 2024 should be avoided.
The federal states also spoke out in favor of introducing a “temporary bridge electricity price”, as proposed by Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens). Finance Minister Christian Lindner, however, is against it. Most recently, the FDP leader had signaled that he was open to lowering the electricity tax. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has also spoken out against the reduced electricity price – the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag, on the other hand, is in favor of it.
Preventing the exodus of energy-intensive industries
Allianz continued to argue that the high energy prices intensified international locational competition and made investments in greenhouse gas-neutral technologies more difficult. The chemical industry is particularly affected. “An exodus of energy-intensive industries (including chemicals, pharmaceuticals, glass, metal, paper) would cause considerable damage to the German economy,” the seven federal states warned.
In addition, the country representatives in the paper call for security of energy supply, for example through the expansion of renewable energies and a faster expansion of the power grids and the acceleration of planning and approval processes. The chemical industry also needs well-trained specialists.