Viennese financial and economic councilor Peter Hanke (SPÖ) wants the Austrian government to advocate a price cap for electricity trade at the EU energy summit on 9 September, following the example of Spain and Portugal. Instead of the current “merit order” system, a maximum trading price of 300 euros per MWh of electricity will be set.
The operators of the power stations should receive compensation equal to the difference with their generation costs. “Europe must now act as one, otherwise a cold winter threatens after a hot summer,” Hanke warned on Sunday.
Proposal for a market intervention
All European power plants should be able to offer normally. However, in a second step, the prices offered by the exchange should be automatically overwritten by the trading algorithm with the maximum price – for example, a maximum price of 300 euros per MWh. Power plant providers should receive the difference from their generation costs as compensation. “This would implement the long-awaited decoupling of electricity and gas prices,” Hanke says.
Bundled gas purchasing at EU level
As an additional solution, bundled gas purchases at EU level with a discount on transfer to European electricity producers and gas traders at supported capped prices and the consequent obligation to pass on the cost benefits achieved to all end users in Europe would be an option. This counteracts the Russian supply monopoly with a “purchasing cartel”.
“Protective shield” for energy suppliers
Hanke again emphasized the need for a “protective shield” for energy supply companies, so that they can also deposit the necessary securities on the energy exchanges in the short term. He referred to the Swedish government’s announcement that it would provide its energy companies with liquidity guarantees worth several hundred billion kroner (tens of billions of euros).
In addition, the Vienna City Council for Finance urged the federal government to put a brake on electricity prices.
Source: Krone
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