The project
Enerdata – in partnership with Trinomics, Cambridge Econometrics and Ludwig Bölkow Systemtechnik – was selected by the Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER) of the European Commission to perform a study on energy prices, costs, and subsidies in Europe.
The study aimed to evaluate the role of competition in the formation of wholesale and retail prices, assess the impact of energy bills on household budgets, and analyse the competitiveness of European industries and power generation in the global market. The project was conducted over several years to capitalise upon results and deepen the analysis.
Strategic stakes
Responsible for the EU’s energy policy, DG ENER strives to guarantee secure, sustainable, and competitively priced energy in Europe.
To shape efficient policies, DG ENER sought to gather a better understanding of the key factors affecting the cost of energy, and how they influence investments in the energy sector as well as industrial competitiveness (especially in energy-intensive industries). In addition, DG ENER intended to assess the externalities borne by society that are not included in the market cost of energy. Finally, another objective was to comprehend how energy costs and prices can be used as tools to curb wasteful consumption and steer the energy transition.
The objective of the study was not only for internal purposes – supporting DG ENER’s analysis for policy and regulatory purposes – but also to increase public transparency on energy prices and costs, and support European market integration.
- Enerdata contributed its proficiency in database management to collect, process, and organise huge amounts of data gathered from over 50 individual sources. Our experience in designing smart data tools supported the development of efficient, user-friendly databases for DG ENER.
- Enerdata’s Global Energy and CO2 Database and Power Plant Tracker provided data for the study, optimising time and resources used by the project with DG ENER. Our Information Services offered comprehensive, reliable, and up-to-date insights for all energies worldwide, ready to export into our clients’ databases and fuel their analyses.
- Enerdata led the task on evaluating energy prices and power generation profitability (data collection, calculations and estimations, analysis), capitalising on our teams’ best practices for working in consortiums and cooperating closely with partners.
- Enerdata’s expertise in advanced energy modelling tools supported the prospective analysis of energy price variations and their impacts on industrial competitiveness in the EU.
- Analysis of energy prices, inside and outside the EU
- Assessment of the evolution of energy prices and their drivers
- Comparisons between the EU and its G20 trading partners
- Update of the European Commission’s energy price database, with data broken down by consumer type (industry, households)
- Evaluation of energy costs for industry, inside and outside the EU (handled by partners)
- Collection and comparison of energy costs for industry, in the EU and G20 countries
- Coverage of more than 30 sectors, within and outside manufacturing
- Appraisal of the impact of energy costs on industrial competitiveness
- Decomposition analysis of energy cost drivers
- Modelling of changes in energy costs and their impacts on industrial competitiveness
- Collection and comparison of energy costs for industry, in the EU and G20 countries
- Profitability analysis and collection of hourly data for power generation technologies
- Collection and processing of hourly data on power generation, including cost and revenue variations
- Coverage of the EU and the G20 over a 10-year period
- Study of power generation profitability drivers, such as:
- Fuel and CO2 costs, load factor, annual revenues from electricity sales, government support, and others
- Evaluation of the impact of realised prices (power generation weighted average market price) on the profitability of investments
- Comparison of annual profitability for different power generation technologies and fuel types
- Collection and processing of hourly data on power generation, including cost and revenue variations
- Databases
- Creation of MS-Excel databases for the European Commission, relying on data traceability, consistency, and smart design (simplicity and functionality)
- Update and improvement of existing MS-Excel databases
- Country factsheets
- Country factsheets summarising trends in power generation realised prices and profitability over a 10-year period
- Study report
- Final report presenting the study’s objective and scope, methodology, analysis, and results, published by the European Commission.
Study on energy prices, costs and their impact on industry and households. Final report.