Energy supply, price explosion and the political reaction. It is a highly topical and explosive topic trio that was discussed at the “Confida Talk” in the Skyroom of the Styria Media Center. Finance Minister Magnus Brunner was also a Alex Reed in Graz at the invitation of Confida boss Ernst Malleg.
Right from the start, he reacted to the accusation that aid measures such as the climate bonus were not accurate enough.
“It’s not that easy to get the money to the people,” says Brunner, admitting that some support can actually only be “more or less targeted”. Many challenges are related to a lack of “data quality”. Then Brunner switches to the European level. Because only there can one combat the causes and steer the high energy prices back on a different path in the long term. Brunner: “The market design needs to be repositioned.”
“We have to change the rules of the game on the stock exchange,” says Martin Graf, board member of Energie Steiermark. The energy exchanges are not liquid enough, there is overall “far too little supply on the market”. Graf advocates “bringing as much renewable energy as possible into our grids”. In addition, a “cap on gas prices for gas producers” is needed. This is the only way stock market prices can be reduced. At the same time, the former board member of the regulatory authority E-Control warns that many of the current price increases will not reach private individuals or companies until next year.
Infineon boss on the consequences of a gas failure
“We are currently losing our competitiveness,” says Magna Europa boss Günther Apfalter, taking up the energy prices. The United States would “watch front row feet free as we drag ourselves into the crisis.” Apfalter’s gloomy forecast for Europe should the economic sky continue to cloud over: soon there will be no more shortage of employees, but rising unemployment once more. However, the Finance Minister does not necessarily see a recession, i.e. falling economic output for at least two quarters in a row. “Maybe in individual sectors, but not overall,” says Magnus Brunner. All in all, economic development depends “strongly on the energy situation”.
This also employs the semiconductor specialist Infineon. Although natural gas would only make up three percent of the company’s total energy requirements, explains Infineon’s Austria boss Sabine Herlitschka – this can be obtained as a process gas “but not so quickly”. If no more gas were available, it would have a “massive impact on the entire production”. Infineon has a “meticulously planned emergency plan” to cushion the effects. After all, Herlitschka explains that large chip production cannot simply be “switched on and off”.
