Scholz reiterated his skepticism about an industrial electricity price. “The energy industry cannot become a permanent subsidy case for the Federal Republic of Germany. That can’t go well in any country,” he said, without mentioning the industrial electricity price. He named the expansion of green electricity production and the completion of the power lines from north to south as the only remedy for excessively high electricity prices. Even today, the north and east are getting through Wind energy produces very cheap electricity, which, however, does not arrive in other parts of the republic.
Scholz rejected the Belgian Prime Minister’s demand that future electricity production should also include nuclear energy “as a reliable and carbon-free” basis. New nuclear power plants could only produce electricity for around 20 cents per kilowatt hour, in contrast to renewable energies with around six cents.
The Chancellor called for the expansion of semiconductor production in Germany and Europe. It was “wrong turn”, he said, considering that today the producers are mainly located in Asia and the USA. “We have to help ensure that the investments now planned in Germany and Europe actually take place.”
De Croo warned of subsidy races in Europe. As head of government of a smaller EU country, he warned that the subsidies for climate-friendly energies must also be distributed across the EU level in order to remain competitive in the EU internal market. In addition, one should not distribute money with the watering can and subsidies must be strictly linked to technologies that drastically reduce greenhouse gases.