Almost half of Bavarian companies fear the consequences of the energy transition. In a recently published company survey, 47 percent said that they expected negative effects on their own business, as the Bavarian Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce (BIHK) announced. In contrast, according to the BIHK Energy Transition Barometer, 14 percent expect that the restructuring of the energy supply will have positive consequences for their own businesses.
Almost 600 companies in Bavaria took part in the annual survey conducted by the Chambers of Industry and Commerce since 2013, around 40 percent each being service providers and industrial companies, the rest from the trade and construction sectors.
The President of the IHK for Upper Franconia Bayreuth, Michael Waasner, speaks of alarming results. “Bavaria and especially Upper Franconia with its high industrial density thrive on innovation. If our industrial companies postpone their investments in core processes or suspend them completely, there is a risk of falling behind on the global markets.” “Political action is now required to ensure security of supply and affordability in the long term. This also includes efficient electricity highways from north to south and reducing electricity taxes to the European minimum,” says Waasner.
Competition endangered
The situation is particularly dramatic in industrial companies with more than 500 employees: 71 percent of those surveyed stated that high energy prices endanger their competitiveness. This results in drastic investment cuts: a good half of the companies are postponing investments in core processes, around a third are deferring planned expenditure on research and development, and almost 30 percent are suspending climate protection investments.
“More companies than ever fear for their survival because of energy policy,” says BIHK Managing Director Manfred Gößl. According to the survey, almost half of large industrial companies are planning relocations or production cuts or are already implementing these measures – that is also a negative record.
Criticism of energy policy
“The high energy prices and the regulatory uncertainties of the energy transition are enormous burdens for many companies,” said Gößl. 64 percent of companies criticize the lack of plannability and reliability of energy policy as hurdles for their own climate protection measures, 58 percent complain about too much bureaucracy and a further 44 percent complain about slow planning and approval procedures. Many companies have already largely exhausted the potential for saving energy. New projects such as photovoltaic systems are slowed down by bureaucracy or a lack of grid connections.
“Despite everything, there is good news: companies are committed to climate protection. “More than half have a climate neutrality goal or are already climate neutral,” says Gößl, highlighting that around 70 percent of the companies surveyed in the Free State have built up their own capacity to supply renewable energy or are planning to do so – an increase of eight percentage points compared to the previous year. The Bavarian economy is therefore above the national figure of 63 percent.
The BIHK energy transition barometer is under www.bihk.de available. (red)
2023-09-19 18:33:04
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