The new gas rate for German consumers will be 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh)

MADRID, 15 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The new rate that the German Government will apply to gas prices to distribute the increase in fuel costs among households and companies has been set at 2.419 euro cents per kilowatt hour (KWh) as of October 1.

As announced on Monday by Trading Hub Europe (THE), the joint venture formed by the gas operators, the amount of the charge for neutrality in the acquisition of gas will be equivalent to 24.19 euros/MWh and will be charged from October 1 of 2022 on all the quantities of gas withdrawn daily.

The German Minister of Economy and Climate Protection, Robert Habeck, had anticipated that the amount of the new gas rate "will be between 1.5 and 5 cents per kilowatt hour", which would have an impact of "several hundred euros per home".

Specifically, according to estimates in the German press, the extra cost on the gas bill for a family of four in a single-family home will be around 480 euros per year.

The new rate will come into force from October 1, 2022 and its application is expected to last for a limited period of time, initially established until September 30, 2024.

According to the Ministry, given the tense situation in the gas market, this measure is necessary to maintain gas supply during the coming winter, since without this mechanism to distribute the higher gas costs among consumers, public services throughout of the supply chain would be at risk.

The beneficiaries of the new gas price mechanism will be the energy supply companies directly affected by the additional costs due to the substantial reduction in Russian gas imports.

Berlin had to come to the rescue of Uniper last July, the largest German importer of Russian gas and whose main shareholders is the Finnish Fortum, acquiring a 30% stake in the company in exchange for injecting more than 7,000 million euros.