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Bundeskartellamt has published the sixth Market Power Report ("Report"), analyzing competition in electricity generation and first-time sales between May 2024 and April 2025.
The Report finds that the market power of Germany's major electricity producers (RWE, LEAG and EnBW) has increased significantly. This is mainly due to a sharp decline in dispatchable power plant capacity following plant closures and the end of temporary reserve plant reactivations in early 2024 under the coal phase-out plan.
Instead of focusing on market shares, Bundeskartellamt assesses how often a producer is indispensable (pivotal) in meeting electricity demand. If a company is pivotal in more than 5% of yearly hours, this indicates dominant position. The findings show:
- RWE clearly exceeded the dominance threshold.
- LEAG also exceeded the threshold.
- EnBW came close but did not exceed it.
The Report warns that splitting the German-Luxembourg electricity bidding zone could further strengthen large suppliers' market power.
Although the Report does not formally declare dominance (as this requires case-by-case legal review), dominant firms are prohibited from withholding capacity to raise prices.
Market power is unlikely to decline soon. New subsidized power plants are planned, but due to long construction times, they will not increase capacity in the short term. Bundeskartellamt recommends limiting each bidder to 10% of total tendered capacity to reduce long-term market concentration and ensure stronger competition.
The report also highlights:
- A significant reduction in dispatchable capacity.
- More frequent price spikes, especially in winter and during low wind/solar periods.
- No evidence of abusive capacity withholding during late 2024 price peaks. The main cause was scarcity.
- Increasing importance of electricity imports (necessary in nearly 25% of the analyzed hours).
- No major changes in the balancing services market, where EnBW remains a leading provider.
Overall, increasing capacity scarcity strengthens large suppliers' market power and may lead to higher prices unless competition is reinforced.
(Bundeskartellamt, 19.02.2026)
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