German business leaders say electrification key measure for energy security and affordability – survey
Clean Energy Wire
German business leaders see electrification as an opportunity to improve energy security and affordability, according to an international survey among companies in 18 countries. The results showed that most of the 106 German business leaders who responded to the survey expect that the electrification of their business operations would improve their energy security (86%), lower their energy bills (83%), and reduce long-term operating costs (82%).
The survey conducted by policy and opinion consultancy Public First among almost 2,000 international business leaders from companies with a revenue of at least one million US dollars per year demonstrated that 90 percent of company leaders expect their operations to be electrified by 2035. A majority across all surveyed countries said that electrification would improve their energy security (91%) and that current energy market instability has made their own business's electrification more urgent (79%).
Across all countries, 72 percent of business leaders said government policies are lagging behind. In Germany, leaders are most concerned about the slow integration of renewable energy and the expansion of the electricity grid, with 71 percent saying that the country’s power system is falling behind business demand. The survey also showed that lowering electricity costs was the most popular policy solution (45%) among Germany’s business leaders to speed up electrification.
While many energy-intensive companies are exempt from power taxes and levies, the electricity prices paid by industry are one of the most contentious aspects of Germany's energy transition, particularly in terms of economic impacts. Oil, gas and coal are still the dominant energy sources in, for example, transport and heating in Germany. As sectors are electrified, total energy use will decline because much less is wasted as heat and processes become more efficient and fossil fuels do not need to be replaced one-by-one with renewable energy.