Despite the supply bottlenecks for semiconductors, the German electrical industry is expecting strong growth this year. Price-adjusted production is likely to rise by four percent, the industry association ZVEI announced on Monday. If the high order backlogs can be processed quickly, growth could be even higher. The association sees at least a glimmer of hope in the supply bottlenecks for primary products, particularly semiconductors: An improvement can be expected from the middle of the year at the earliest, said ZVEI President Gunther Kegel. The issue will occupy the industry throughout the year, but with decreasing intensity.

In competition with the USA and China, there should be no one-sided dependencies, "neither in cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors nor in cutting-edge research", said Kegel. The EU must quickly launch its funding program for microelectronics.

The electronics industry recovered rapidly from the coronavirus crisis last year and more than made up for the declines from the crisis year 2020. From January to November, production in the sector grew by a good nine percent with 877,000 employees. It benefited from exports to Europe, China and the USA. Almost all sub-sectors recorded growth, with batteries, which are in demand for electric cars and e-bikes, growing the most, said Kegel. But medical technology was also on the rise.

In the first eleven months of last year, turnover rose by almost ten percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Extrapolated to 2021 as a whole, turnover has almost reached the 200 billion euro mark for the first time, according to the ZVEI. Without supply bottlenecks, turnover could have been significantly higher.

The association is calling for more speed when it comes to climate protection and electrification. Grid expansion, for example, has been neglected for years, said Wolfgang Weber, Chairman of the ZVEI Management Board. The energy transition cannot succeed without a high-performance, digitalized power grid." With digitalization and electrification, the demand for electricity in Germany will rise sharply: from 500 TWh recently to over 700 TWh in 2030.

In addition, Germany needs to modernize the building sector with its high CO2 emissions more quickly, said Weber. "The majority of buildings are not ready for the energy transition, the renovation rate is too low and the electrical installations are often outdated."

In order to make renewable electricity attractive as an energy source, the price of electricity must also fall, Weber demanded. The abolition of the EEG levy planned by the German government is not enough. The electricity tax must also be reduced and completely abolished for renewable electricity. For car drivers, for example, electricity must be cheaper than petrol in order for the transport transition to make progress.