The CEO of Eon, Leonhard Birnbaum, clearly shows us how extremely important it is to use the price mechanism to effectively match the demand for and supply of electricity. The interview: compulsory reading for energy politicians.
Mr. Birnbaum, there have been several severe price swings in the German electricity market in recent months. The reason for this was that Germany has shut down many coal-fired power plants and there was not enough wind and solar power available. Should Germany fear electricity shortages?
“We will increasingly have hours when electricity is scarce – the well-known dark doldrums. At the same time, however, we will also increasingly have hours when we have too much electricity – the opposite of the dark doldrums, the light breeze. As a result, price volatility is increasing.”
Do we therefore have to get used to ever new price records?
“At least we have to learn to deal with the price peaks and the increasing price volatility. But there will also be more and more times when electricity is very cheap. This is certainly a change, but also an opportunity – at least for customers who can participate flexibly in the electricity market.”
– Eon CEO Leonhard Birnbaum in “Less bureaucracy only comes with fewer bureaucrats – the Eon CEO talks about too many solar plants, problematic feed-in tariffs and Donald Trump’s behavior – and he brings a hiring freeze at the federal level into play”, interview in Handelsblatt, January 21, 2025, page 18, No. 15
