Germany says global gas prices to remain high for next five years

CEO of Germany’s biggest power supplier RWE Markus Krebber has said that gas and electricity prices both in Germany and around the world will remain high for about five years.

Krebber made the statement in an interview with the Munich-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The CEO said it will take some time for new capacities to be built and for other countries to be able to supply more energy.

Krebber also supported the initiative of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, to resume the operation of coal-fired combined heat and power plants, thanks to which less gas will be consumed.

He added that as a result of the decline in natural gas exports from Russia, RWE also receives gas in smaller volumes than was originally agreed with Russia, and to compensate for this, the concern is forced to purchase energy carriers "at significantly higher and rising prices".