Germany’s industrial power price 2026: which businesses get it and what it really delivers

The short answer

The industrial power price (Industriestrompreis) is a grant, not a fixed electricity price: for 2026, eligible businesses are reimbursed 3.744 cents per kilowatt hour on half of their eligible electricity consumption retrospectively, which works out at 1.872 cents on every kilowatt hour. Only offtake points in 91 electricity- and trade-intensive sectors qualify, and half of the grant must be invested in decarbonisation.

How a business’s electricity price is made up in the first place is explained in the guide to the components of business electricity prices. This piece is about the political relief often shortened to “5-cent power”, and about who actually benefits from it.

What exactly is the industrial power price?

The legal basis is the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy’s guideline of 27 April 2026 for the settlement years 2026 to 2028. The European Commission approved it on 16 April 2026 under the new state aid framework for the Clean Industrial Deal (CISAF). BAFA (the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control) handles applications and payment.

It matters what the industrial power price is not: no supplier delivers electricity for 5 cents. BAFA states explicitly that companies continue to buy at their individual market price and that this price plays no role in the aid. The 5 cents are a calculation threshold in the funding model. There is also no legal entitlement: if the budget is insufficient, all grants are cut pro rata.

How is the relief calculated?

BAFA uses as its reference price the futures price on the EEX power exchange traded in the previous year for delivery in the settlement year. Half of it is reimbursed, but only to the extent that the notional price does not fall below the target price of 5 cents.

Item	Value 2026	Source
Reference price (EEX futures market)	8.744 ct/kWh	BAFA
50% of the reference price	4.372 ct/kWh	own calculation
Target price (floor)	5.0 ct/kWh	guideline no. 5.1
Differential price (capped)	3.744 ct/kWh	BAFA
Subsidised share of consumption	50%	information sheet 5.2.1
Relief per kWh of total consumption	1.872 ct/kWh	own calculation

The formula is: base aid = 0.5 × eligible electricity consumption × differential price. Eligible consumption is the electricity used on site at the offtake point, whether from the grid or self-generated, minus onward supply to third parties and grid feed-in. Volumes already claimed under electricity price compensation are excluded; double funding is not possible.

For context: large consumers using more than 150 gigawatt hours paid an average of 12.67 cents per kilowatt hour excluding VAT in the first half of 2026 (Destatis, provisional). Measured against that, the industrial power price provides relief of just under 15 per cent.

Which businesses are eligible and which are not?

Eligible are companies based in Germany, for offtake points belonging to a sector in sub-list 1 of Annex I to the EU state aid guidelines CEEAG (KUEBLL). The list in the BAFA information sheet covers 91 sectors, including chemicals, paper, glass, ceramics, cement, steel, aluminium, foundries, plastic products, textiles and some food sectors such as sugar, starch or fruit juices. What counts is the WZ 2008 classification of the individual offtake point, evidenced by a certificate from the regional statistical office.

Not included are retail, hospitality, hotels, care homes, office-based businesses and many typical mid-sized manufacturers: the manufacture of bakery products (WZ 10.71) is not on the list, nor is machining of metals (WZ 25.62). Also excluded are undertakings in difficulty, companies entered in the debtors’ register and those with an outstanding EU recovery order.

What does it mean for a mid-sized plant? A worked example

Suppose a manufacturer of plastic packaging (WZ 22.22, on the list) runs one offtake point with 4,200,000 kWh drawn from the grid and 300,000 kWh self-consumed from its own PV system. It passes 100,000 kWh on to a sub-tenant on the site. It does not claim electricity price compensation.

Item	kWh / euros
Grid supply + self-generation	4,500,000 kWh
− Onward supply to third parties	100,000 kWh
= Eligible consumption	4,400,000 kWh
Base aid: 0.5 × 4,400,000 × 3.744 ct	€82,368
Minimum investment in decarbonisation (50%)	€41,184

A metal machining business (WZ 25.62) with exactly the same consumption would receive €0. If the plastics business also claims the flexibility bonus, BAFA’s example adds 10 per cent of the base aid. In return it must put 80 per cent of its minimum investment into measures that make its consumption more flexible, and invest 75 per cent of the bonus in decarbonisation on top.

The investment obligation is the point many underestimate. Anyone already planning investments that fall within the catalogue of measures gets money for something they wanted to do anyway. Anyone with nothing planned has to find projects and document them. Which measures qualify is set out in section 4 of the guideline and in a separate BAFA information sheet on decarbonisation measures.

Which deadlines apply for 2026?

Step	Date according to BAFA
Registration and creating applications (Förderzentrale Deutschland)	expected from December 2026
Application deadline, settlement year 2026	31 March 2027
Auditor’s certificate (from 10 GWh)	can be submitted by 31 May 2027
Application deadline with simultaneous electricity price compensation	15 July 2027

Each company may file only one application per year, and all evidence must be resubmitted every year. Below 10 GWh, the required evidence includes the sector certificate, a site plan of the offtake point and proof of consumption.

What does it mean for economic policy?

The industrial power price is narrowly targeted. It relieves sectors whose foreign competitors have cheaper power and ties the support to investment. That is intended under state aid law. For the large majority of businesses, however, it changes nothing. For them the general levers remain: electricity tax, network charges, levies. Manufacturing businesses can already reclaim part of the electricity tax under section 9b of the Electricity Tax Act. The debate on an electricity tax cut for everyone and the levies from 2027 therefore affects more businesses than the industrial power price.

What businesses should do now

1. Check the WZ 2008 classification of every offtake point against the 91 sectors of sub-list 1; if in doubt, request the certificate from the regional statistical office.
2. Determine eligible consumption for 2026 carefully: grid supply, self-generation, onward supply, feed-in, measured in compliance with metering and calibration law or estimated in a traceable way.
3. Use the differential price of 3.744 cents to calculate your own base aid and budget half of it for investment.
4. Check whether electricity price compensation makes more sense for the same volumes; both for the same kilowatt hour is not possible.
5. From 10 GWh, involve the auditor early and plan registration for December 2026; the deadline is 31 March 2027.
6. Businesses that are not eligible should focus on network charges, procurement and consumption – that is where their levers are.