The power supply is increasingly causing problems for industry: Costs are exploding and strong price fluctuations make calculation difficult. On the other hand, customers, politicians and business partners are increasingly demanding the use of renewable electricity sources. “For industrial customers, it is therefore becoming increasingly attractive to supply themselves with green power”, says Markus W. Voigt, CEO of the aream Group. “This strengthens sustainability, competitiveness and predictability.”

Customers, politicians, the media and the general public increasingly expect companies to operate sustainably. Investors are also increasing the pressure: if sustainability is insufficient, sources of financing can dry up. For this reason, a growing number of companies have set themselves the goal, within the framework of the RE100 initiative, to cover their electricity needs completely from renewable energies in the medium term. “Companies are increasingly demanding these sustainability standards from their business partners”, explains Voigt.
 
At the same time, rising energy costs threaten the economic viability of industry. The war in Ukraine has led to elementary market distortions in energy procurement in Europe. There has been an unprecedented and continuing rise in prices and extremely high volatility due to great uncertainty. While the electricity price for industry averaged 8.2 cents/kWh between 1998 and 2021, it shot up by over 200 per cent in the first half of 2022, and the range of fluctuation increased by almost 300 per cent.
 
“This is not likely to be a temporary phenomenon”, says Voigt. In the medium term, electricity prices are expected to remain at a historically very high level – driven by the quest for energy independence and sustainability. The electrification of industrial processes will also cause the demand for electricity to rise sharply in the coming years. “Industry faces the additional problem that energy supply contracts are limited in terms of duration and design”, explains Voigt. “In addition, there is a big timing risk in concluding the contracts.”
 
Against this background, it makes sense for companies to take electricity production into their own hands. This makes it possible to effectively fix costs, increase plannability and make significant savings compared to the electricity market. “In this way, companies protect themselves against price fluctuations on the stock exchange and do not run the risk of having to conclude new electricity supply contracts during periods of high prices”, says Voigt. In addition, secured minimum revenues through the EEG tariff in Germany beckon, if applicable. “And finally, you know that what’s in it is what’s on it”, says Voigt: “With our own production, green electricity is guaranteed and you don’t expose yourself to the risk of green washing.” In this way, the company meets the expectations of politicians and customers, investors, business partners and employees.