Part of Industrial Base Lost Due to Energy Crisis

In the spring of 2025, energy-intensive industrial production was almost 20 per cent below the 2022 level. This potentially permanent loss of production affects jobs with well above-average value creation. This is the diagnosis by Professor Friedrich Heinemann, head of the ZEW Research Unit “Corporate Taxation and Public Finance”. On behalf of the Foundation for Family Businesses, he has examined for the second time the energy prices and import risks of the 21 countries that are also compared in the Country Index for Family Businesses.

The good news is that while Germany was still considered to be a country with particularly high energy import risks in the previous 2022 assessment, this is no longer the case. The import of gas and liquefied petroleum gas from sources other than Russia has worked quickly without creating new dependencies, for example on the Gulf region. The strong growth of renewable energies has also reduced reliance on fossil fuel imports.

Heinemann argues against subsidising energy prices.  Instead, he stresses the need to reduce provision costs, especially for electricity. The high and increasing grid fees are largely the result of regional imbalances between supply and demand. For Heinemann, the idea of using regional wholesale electricity prices for greater efficiency is therefore not off the table. Such a system would create incentives to generate electricity in the areas where it is actually needed.