Five biggest power suppliers continue to lose market share – monitoring report

Germany’s five biggest power suppliers have continued to lose market share in 2020, according to a new monitoring report by the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) and the Federal Antitrust Authorities (Bundeskartellamt). This is primarily due to the simultaneous phase-out of coal and nuclear power and the expansion of renewable energy as well as the drop in demand due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the report states. The share of electricity consumption from renewable energy sources reached a record 45 percent in 2020 and electricity generation from renewables also rose, while the share of electricity generation from non-renewable sources fell by 11.6 percent. "With the advancing energy transition, the simultaneous phase-out of electricity generation from nuclear power and coal and the expansion of renewable energies, we are currently seeing quite considerable upheavals in market positions and structures,” said Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt. “It is all the more important to secure competitive structures and choice for consumers at all market levels.” President of the BNetzA, Jochen Homann, added: "The figures in the monitoring report show that we still have a long way to go in implementing the energy transition – and the Corona pandemic has not reduced the challenges on the energy markets."

Germany plans to phase out nuclear energy by the end of 2022. The next government has pulled forward the coal-exit date of 2038, and is now aiming to shut the last coal plant by 2030.