Since summer 2021, we have been startled almost daily with news about rising energy prices.
The price of electricity seems to have no ceiling and new records follow each other in rapid succession. Energy tariffs are rising so fast that it threatens to become unaffordable for more and more people, and for energy-intensive companies, by 2022.
While energy was still dirt-cheap last year, partly due to the corona crisis, the situation has completely turned around this year. The higher gas and coal prices, combined with rising European carbon prices, have skyrocketed electricity tariffs. In Germany, prices leaped last week to their highest level on record, up more than six times from last year. In Spain, where gas-fired power generation is crucial for setting electricity prices, the increase was even more painful. And the lower-than-expected wind generation, provided an additional upward pressure. According to the latest report from the IEA (International Energy Agency), the global energy crisis will increase demand for oil by 500,000 barrels per day. And as a result, rising inflation and a slowdown in the global economic recovery can be expected.
Meanwhile, the politicians do not seem to have solutions. The European Commission so far did not come much further than a proposal to make the energy crisis bearable, especially for households. A document with some tips and suggestions, which most Member States had probably already thought of themselves.
During our DBC lunch on the 2 nd of November energy will be the central theme of discussion.
We have invited Gijsbert Huijink for the occasion. Gijsbert founded the Som Energia cooperative in Gerona more than 10 years ago. A non-profit organization that is committed to accelerating the energy transition and the participation of citizens and companies in it.
From 2010 to 2018, he was also the general manager, and the cooperative grew into a collective with 45,000 members and more than 75,000 customers. The cooperative now has 75,000 members and 133,000 customers. The expected turnover for 2021 will approach 100 million euros. Since 2019, Gijsbert has been involved as a board member in the start-up of a similar cooperative in Romania.