Working Paper 10-14 - De prijs van elektriciteit en aardgas voor ondernemingen in België - Samenstelling, niveau en evolutie ten opzichte van de buurlanden

In 2012 ever growing prices of electricity and natural gas compelled the federal governmentto take measures to better control these prices, and thus improve Belgian competitiveness. This studyexplores the evolution of the prices of electricity and natural gas for enterprises in Belgium and threeneighbouring countries. It is done for 2007 - 2014 and using energy price data from Eurostat and someother sources. The average electricity prices in Belgium have long been the second highest of the fourcountries, but the price increases were less strong than in Germany and France. That’s why today theprices are moderate to low, suggesting that the measures must have been effective. During the wholeperiod since 2007, the prices of natural gas were relatively low. Still, attention should be paid to theprices, in particular those of electricity. This is of uttermost importance for energy-intensivemanufacturing. All for countries grant discounts on energy levies, in some cases even on networktariffs. The position energy-intensive manufacturing in Belgium may therefore be less favourable thanwould be suggested by the average prices. Hence, it remains important to analyse energy prices forenergy-intensive manufacturing.