WHAT: E-World Energy & Water trade show in Essen, Germany
WHEN: Tuesday to Thursday, Feb. 8 to 10
FACTORS TO WATCH:
The European power and gas industry is to meet next week in Essen to discuss the challenges of falling utility revenues in an environment of $100 a barrel for crude oil.
European power generation revenues have been falling for the past year as electricity prices have been stagnant while oil, gas and coal prices have been rising on the back of supply problems and booming demand in Asia. [ID:nLDE6A31X0]
Delegates at the E-World Energy and Water trade show that is to take place between Feb. 8 and 10 in Essen, Germany, are also likely to address energy policy.
The German government released its energy strategy plan last autumn, laying the foundation for an energy future increasingly influenced by renewable energies, as Germany considers itself a driver of low carbon economics and wants to free itself from import reliance.
“The energy concept demonstrates that the path toward an age of renewable energy is possible and viable … however, these efforts will require a significant investment by the public and private sectors,” Rainer Bruederle, Federal Minister of Economics and Technology said in the trade show’s brochure.
The government’s targets put power producers that rely on fossil fuel generation under pressure to invest in renewable energy generation at the same time as their conventional generation revenues drop as a result of rising fossil fuel prices.
In turn, this burdens consumers with rising energy retail prices.
Just before the Essen event, on Feb. 4, European Union leaders will gather in Brussels for an energy summit that will look at future renewable subsidising and network requirements, that will likely impact heavily on Germany. [ID:nLDE70U1AG]
The bloc’s energy commissioner, Guenther Oettinger, has warned that exaggerated power prices for example will cripple domestic industries and cause their exodus to other regions.
Delegates are also likely to address the renewed turmoil in the carbon market.
Pollution permits called EU Allowances (EUAs) in the mandatory carbon trading scheme, the EU-27’s main tool in combating climate change, vanished from national, electronic carbon registries in Greece, Austria and the Czech Republic earlier this year. [ID:nLDE7130RA]
MARKET IMPACT:
Essen is in the heartland of Germany’s steel and coal mining Ruhr region and houses many heavy manufacturing companies which consume most of the power and gas for industry.
With E.ON EONGn.DE, RWE RWEG.DE and formerly Evonik Industries’s Steag [EVON.UL], now in the hands of local utilities, three out of Germany’s five biggest power generation companies are also from Essen or close-by cities.
As many traders from nearby offices, but also from dealing rooms across Europe, attend the fair instead of doing deals, the event is set to cause a sharp fall in power market liquidity next week.
Trading platforms, such as exchanges or brokers, often use E-World to announce the introduction of new services, while technology companies are expected to present energy efficiency and smart metering solutions.
Organisers say that more than 500 companies from 19 countries have registered for the trade show, now in its 11th year and a showcase for mainly Germany’s energy industries, technologies and services. (Reporting by Vera Eckert and Henning Gloystein)