Presentation of figures (Electricity)
Profile E-RES (Electricity) Total invoice analysis
The below figure provides a comparison of the total yearly invoice paid by a residential consumer (E-RES) in the different studied countries and regions. The results are expressed in EUR/year.
Figure 27: Total yearly invoice in EUR/year for residential consumers (profile E-RES)
Because of regional differences, Belgium is split into three regions and Germany into four regions. The other countries under review – France, the Netherlands and the UK – are represented as one single result.
As demonstrated in the figure, Germany represents the highest yearly invoice for residential electricity consumers regardless of the TSO. Following Germany, Wallonia and Flanders display average values for the total yearly invoice. The three Belgian regions show significant variations as for the total invoice amount – about 18%
variation between Brussels’ and Wallonia’s fares for instance – with Brussels being the cheapest. At this profile level, France is the unique country to have a price range, with a minimum of 654 EUR to a maximum of 676 EUR/year. This comes as a consequence of the possibility to opt for either the CU4 or MU4 network price option, which also impacts the CTA price257.
257 More information on France price options can be found in French residential and small professional consumers’ section (p.73).
France and the UK all present close results when it comes to the total annual electricity bill for residential consumers. The Netherlands displays an impressively low total invoice (561 EUR/year) compared to the German invoice (1.111 EUR/year) being nearly twice as high as the Dutch invoice.
Breakdown per component
The previous results are further detailed for profile E-RES by the underneath figure, which provides a closer look at the breakdown of the different price components.
Figure 28: Electricity price by component in EUR/MWh (profile E-RES)
The commodity component258 is the lowest in France (58,87 EUR/MWh). Generally, commodity prices in Belgium account for the lowest (66,18 to 66,64 EUR/MWh) behind France and Germany (50 Hertz and Transnet BW zones). The Netherlands and the remaining two German zones (Amprion and Tennet) follow both countries with an average price. In contrast, the United Kingdom displays a relatively high commodity price (97,63 EUR/MWh). Within Belgium, slightly higher prices are encountered in Brussels as a result of Engie’s predominant market shares in the region, driving up prices with more expensive products.
Network costs are relatively similar when comparing the countries even though Germany seems to exhibit higher network costs (from 72,33 EUR/MWh to 84,61 EUR/MWh) in general for residential electricity consumers.
Besides, the range of prices in Germany illustrates the significant discrepancies across the country’s zones.
Conversely, the UK has the lowest prices across studied countries and is well below (about 10 EUR/MWh) the second cheapest, Flanders. While France has a price range depending on the chosen price option, it can be seen that this impact is marginal for E-RES. As for Belgium, Flanders displays the lowest fares even if the
With seven different taxes, Germany is the country with the most important all other costs component259 (116,36 EUR/MWh). On the other side, the Netherlands is the country that barely displays taxes given the fact that residential consumers can be refunded (Belastingvermindering) of a fixed amount of 435,68 EUR/year. The gap between the two countries makes an important impact on residential consumers, as illustrated in Figure 28. As for the Belgian regions, Brussels charges much less residential consumers compared to the other two regions through lower rates: distribution public service obligations and regional costs of green certificates are significantly higher in Flanders and Wallonia.
When it comes to VAT, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands stand out with smaller VAT amounts. This can be explained as the UK has the lowest VAT rate (5%) while the Netherlands faces a lower global bill. Given the network price options in France, the resulting VAT differs depending on the selected option.
Proportional component analysis
The percentages of the costs for each component can be found in the underneath figure.
Figure 29: Proportional component analysis for electricity (profile E-RES)
When comparing the studied countries, significant differences are revealed: commodity price ranges from 20,54%
in Germany (Transnet BW zone) up to 51,18% in the UK. In the Netherlands, it amounts to 46,14%, but this impressive proportion of the commodity price can be easily explained by the quasi-absence of “all other costs”
and the low total price leading to a higher proportion in this case.
After a deeper view on the graph, all the different categories show large ranges, whether it is the commodity, the network cost, the taxes and levies or the VAT components. As said before, the Netherlands stands out due to the quasi-absence of other costs. Similarly, the United Kingdom stands out with a minor VAT part representing 4,76% of the total bill.
As for Belgium, Flanders and Wallonia’s heaviest component is “all other costs” whereas in Brussels the commodity cost weighs the most.
259 Taxes, levies and certificates
KEY FINDINGS
The profile of residential consumers (E-RES) suggests the following findings:
• We observe significant differences between countries that are considered in this study: the total yearly invoice for electricity as a residential consumer ranges from 1.111 (Germany) to 561 EUR/year (the Netherlands), resulting in a 98% difference. The low total invoice in the Netherlands appears to be due to the quasi-absence of other costs (e.g. taxes or levies) since a significant refund (Belastingvermindering) can be granted.
• As a whole, Belgium displays relatively average prices while, at the regional level, Brussels offers the lowest yearly bill. This mostly comes as a result of a lower “all other costs” component compared to Flanders and Wallonia.
• Commodity costs are not the major element of the yearly bill, apart from the UK. The prices are the lowest in France closely followed by Germany (Transnet BW and 50 Hertz regions). While potentially ranging from 21% to 51% in the proportion of the total bill for all countries and regions, in relative terms, commodity weighs the least in Germany before Flanders and Wallonia.
• Network costs generally account for a noticeable component in the electricity pricing structure even though extensive variations can be observed cross-country. They are comprised of 46,61 EUR/MWh (the UK) to 84,61 EUR/MWh (Germany – Transnet BW). However, in relative terms, Flanders (22,84%) demonstrates particularly lower network costs than any other country or region.
• All other costs outline a broad price scope, being the topmost in Germany, ensuing Flanders.
Comparatively, residential electricity consumers in the Netherlands have an insignificant tax burden compared to any other countries.
Profile E-SSME (Electricity) Total invoice analysis
The figure below provides a comparison of the total yearly invoice paid by a small professional consumer (E-SSME) in the different studied countries and regions. The results are expressed in EUR/year.
Figure 30: Total yearly invoice in EUR/year (profile E-SSME)
When observing the graph, Germany clearly stands out with the highest total annual invoices– especially Amprion zone with 7.297 EUR/year. However, Germany presents harmonious yearly bills with little variations among its areas – from 6.985 to 7.297 EUR/year. At the national level, Belgium displays relatively average prices compared to other studied countries given its position as the third most expensive country behind Germany and the Netherlands. While the United Kingdom demonstrate comparatively moderate annual bills, France comes as the cheapest country when considering the minimum price option – in the function of the chosen network price option and the resulting CTA260.
Across its regions, Belgium shows disparate results with broad differences, especially between Brussels, on the one hand, and Flanders and Wallonia, on the other hand, with a maximum difference of 25%. Brussels shows the minimum annual account with 4.908 EUR/year. Oppositely, Flanders and Wallonia’s total electricity bills are aligned to one another.
Breakdown per component
The previous results are further detailed for profile E-SSME in the underneath figure, which provides a closer look at the breakdown of the different price components.
260 More information on France price options can be found in French residential and small professional consumers’ section: When it comes to E-BSME, consumers in France can benefit from governmental intervention on the commodity costs through the ARENH mechanism. This peculiarity, as well as the formula applied for E-BSME’s commodity price, is further explained in section “France Component 1 – the commodity price” (p.159).
Component 2 – network costs (p.74).
Figure 31: Electricity price by component in EUR/MWh (profile E-SSME)
In this case, we notice two categories for commodity prices261: on the one hand, similar fares accounting for Belgium, Germany (lowest commodity costs excluding the Amprion zone), the Netherlands and France and ranging from around 49,67 to 63,03 EUR/MWh; on the other hand, the United Kingdom and the German Amprion zone appear as outliers with higher fares than any other country with 80,64 to 92,82 EUR/MWh. Differences observed within Belgium are due to Engie’s predominant position in Brussels, which eventually drive up prices with more expensive products.
Globally, there are noticeable variations regarding network costs. While Wallonia and the German Transnet BW zone display the most important network costs (respectively 73,80 EUR/MWh and 70,02 EUR/MWh), Brussels, Flanders, France, Germany (except the Transnet BW zone) and the Netherlands form a group with intermediate network costs ranging from 47,76 EUR/MWh to 66,98 EUR/MWh (maximum French option). As for the UK, it has the lowest price, with 31,47 EUR/MWh. France is the sole country to observe network cost price options.
As for all other costs – being taxes, levies and certificates –, sweeping gaps can be observed among these areas. Germany appears to be the most taxing countries/regions regarding electricity for the profile E-SSME.
Among the many taxes charged in Germany, the EEG-umlage stands out as the most expensive tax as it accounts for 87% of the total component. A second group regarding taxing amounts is composed of Flanders, the Netherlands and Wallonia ranging around 68,84 EUR/MWh to 86,03 EUR/MWh. Finally, the least taxing group of countries and regions is made of Brussels, France (maximum taxing option – the highest price for CTA and CSPE) and the United Kingdom ranging from 13,90 EUR/MWh (minimum French option) up to 48,26 EUR/MWh. If Brussels belongs to the least taxing group, it certainly results from lower tax rates in comparison to the other two Belgian regions: distribution public service obligations and regional costs of green certificates are
Proportional component analysis
The percentages of the costs for each component can be found in the underneath figure.
Figure 32: Proportional component analysis (profile E-SSME)
From Figure 32, it can be observed that commodity costs have the highest impact on the UK’s total energy bill as it accounts for most than half of the bill. Conversely, German’s electricity bills, which are aligned across zones except for Amprion, are the least impacted by this component. As for network costs, even if variations are noticeable, their proportion among studied countries remains comparable. They represent the largest component for France being the highest with up to 40% whereas the UK’s have the lowest proportion. Besides, all other costs (i.e. taxes, levies and certificate schemes) account for at least one-quarter of total invoice (excluding France’s minimum option), regularly being a dominant feature. They weigh the most in Flanders, Germany, the Netherlands, whereas France shows the lowest tax proportion (maximum 23%).
KEY FINDINGS
The results reported above suggest the ensuing key findings regarding profile E-SSME:
• We observe capital differences between countries that are considered in this study: the total yearly invoice for electricity as a residential consumer ranges from roughly 4.067 EUR/year (French minimum yearly bill) and 7.297 EUR/year (Germany – Amprion Zone). France’s “all other costs” component constitutes the determining factor in its cheaper relative position.
• Brussels appears to be far cheaper from all the other countries and region regarding the total yearly electricity invoice for small professional consumers (E-SSME), right after France (when considering minimum option). Compared to Wallonia and Flanders, Brussels’ yearly bill is inferior mostly because of lower taxes.
• Commodity costs are not the major element of the yearly bill – apart from the UK. The prices values are the lowest for Germany except for the Amprion zone even if proportionally it is overwhelmed by the “all other costs” component’s weight. Conversely, the UK is the most expensive country when it comes to a commodity which is worth more than half the UK’s bill.
• Network costs generally account for a significant item in the electricity pricing structure even though small variations can be observed cross-country. Yet, the difference between the most competitive country (the UK) and the least competitive region (Wallonia), is of more than a factor 2.
• All other costs outline a broad price scope as the most important price element in the cost structure, being the topmost in Flanders, Germany and the Netherlands. Comparatively, small professional electricity consumers in Brussels, France and in the UK have a lower tax burden than in other countries.
Profile E-BSME (Electricity) Total invoice analysis
The below figure provides a comparison of the total yearly invoice paid by a small professional consumer (E-BSME) in the different studied countries and regions. The results are expressed in EUR/year.
Figure 33: Total yearly invoice in EUR/year (profile E-BSME)
Again, Germany is the most expensive country when it comes to small professionals (E-BSME) in terms of yearly electricity bill and is followed by the UK. Then, Brussels, Flanders, Wallonia and the Netherlands form a group of countries with average prices. Finally, France potentially displays the smallest total invoice, which mostly depends on France’s tax level. Should French consumers pay the maximum price option, Brussels would be the cheapest region of all.
There is an extensive discrepancy among those fares: a 97% difference is flagged between France (minimum option) and Germany. This means that German consumers’ invoice (35.464 EUR/year) is nearly twice as big as the French minimum invoice (17.991 EUR/year) regarding this small professional profile (E-BSME).
Between Belgian regions, Brussels is the least expensive region due to lower “all other costs” compared to Flanders and Wallonia, the latter displaying higher network costs as well.
Breakdown per component
The previous results are further detailed for profile E-BSME in the underneath figure, which provides a closer look at the breakdown of the different price components.
Figure 34: Electricity price by component in EUR/MWh (profile E-BSME)
Commodity prices are highly analogous, ranging from 41,94 EUR/MWh to 46,27 EUR/MWh. However, in this context, the United Kingdom’s commodity price emerges with a 56,18 EUR/MWh amount, showing up to 34%
difference with all the other countries. Lower differences between countries and regions are notably due to the identical formula employed from profile E-BSME to assess commodity prices as referred in the corresponding section (p.105), which also explains the exact same prices for regions within a country as the formula was applied at the national level.
Network costs are, in the case of E-BSME, showing variable results similar to the taxes and levies observations.
France presents the lowest cost with up to 31,05 EUR/MWh, right before Flanders. Again, the impact of network price range option in France appears to be minimal, especially since it already constitutes the lowest cost.
Lagging behind the other areas is the United Kingdom with respectively 78,77 EUR/MWh. Within Belgium, Flanders seems to offer much lower network costs and most specifically with regards to distribution costs compared to Brussels and Wallonia.
As shown in Figure 34 and similarly to what we observed for the residential and small professional (E-RES and E-SSME) consumers profile, Germany is the most taxing country among those we studied with regards to all other costs. It represents most of the time twice the values demonstrated by other countries – even when considering the minimum tax prices option. The latter comes from the possibility for consumers to benefit from a
component as both the CTA and CSPE may vary for professional consumers. In Belgium, it must be noted that the composition of this component largely differs for this consumer profile compared to profile RES. While E-BSME’s “all other costs” component is largely determined by the cost of green certificates (both federal and regional level), the regional public service obligations on distribution account for (one of) the most predominant taxes and levies of profile E-RES.
Proportional component analysis
The percentages of the costs for each component can be found in the underneath figure.
Figure 35: Proportional component analysis (profile E-BSME)
The commodity prices do not represent the same proportion for each country. For instance, France’s commodity component weighs much but this has to be counterbalanced with a rather low global invoice. Should the minimum network and “all other costs” prices options be at the minimum level, the commodity price might represent up to 41% of the total bill. After France, Brussels appears to be the most impacted region by the commodity, while Germany benefits from far smaller commodity costs.
Far-reaching gaps prevailed on this graph regarding the network cost component: France shows the lowest potential network proportion, as opposed to the United Kingdom, Brussels and Wallonia with important network cost proportions. Flanders, Germany and the Netherlands show relatively low network cost proportion consequent to much higher shares of taxes, levies and certificate schemes.
Similar to what has been flagged in the previous profiles (E-RES and E-SSME), we notice that Germany represents the country with the highest tax proportion of all other costs on its final yearly account. This component might rise up to 57,46% of the total bill, more than half of what is paid, depending on the level of the Konzessionsabgabe. As opposed to Germany, the United Kingdom has the smallest tax proportion with only 20,06% of the total bill being accounted to this component.
KEY FINDINGS
As for the E-BSME profile, the results demonstrate the ensuing key findings:
• We observe important differences between countries that are considered in this study: the total yearly invoice for electricity as a small professional consumer (E-BSME) ranges from 17.991 EUR/year (France’s minimum option) to 35.464 EUR/year (Germany), a 97%-difference. Brussels and France (minimum price option) appear to be the most advantageous countries when it comes to the annual electricity invoice for the E-BSME profile.
• In Belgium, Brussels is the least expensive region with prices driven down by comparatively lower “all other costs” than in Flanders and Wallonia.
• Commodity costs are not the major element of the yearly bill. The prices are very analogous across all countries (between 42 and 46 EUR/MWh), except for the United Kingdom that displays a 56 EUR/MWh fare.
• Network costs generally account for a significant item in the electricity pricing structure even though extensive variations can be observed cross-country. We noticed three price groups from 19% of the total bill up to nearly 47%. Along with the UK, this component weighs the most on the total electricity bill in Brussels and Wallonia. In terms of cost, Flanders displays the cheapest component after France.
• All other costs outline a broad price scope, being the topmost in Germany, potentially followed from afar by France in case of the maximum tax level. The E-BSME electricity consumers in Brussels have the lowest tax burden, followed by the UK whose results are in line with the low fares that have been noticed for the other small professional (E-SSME) and residential profiles (E-RES). In general, this component comes as the most determining factor in a country’s relative competitivity in terms of electricity prices.
Profile E0 (Electricity) Total invoice analysis
The below figure provides a comparison of the total yearly invoice paid by an industrial profile E0 in the different studied countries and regions. The results are expressed in kEUR/year.
The below figure provides a comparison of the total yearly invoice paid by an industrial profile E0 in the different studied countries and regions. The results are expressed in kEUR/year.