British companies are being forced to pay over four times more for their electricity this winter than competitors in France and in excess of 70 per cent more than in Germany.

The discrepancy will increase concerns that Britain's crumbling power infrastructure is a growing threat to the country's competitiveness and comes as Ofgem today announces its report into competition in the energy market.

Wholesale power prices in the UK have soared because of a squeeze in generating capacity, which is expected to leave an unusually thin margin of spare supply next month.

On Friday, the forward price of power for November reached more than £130 per megawatt hour. In France, it was about €40 (£31) per megawatt hour, according to Spectron, a supplier of energy market data. In Germany, the price stood at around €97 per megawatt hour.

Jeremy Nicholson, of the Energy Intensive Users' Group, gave warning that some British companies could close this winter because they will not be able to pay such high prices. Power-hungry industries such as brickmaking, cement, glassmaking and papermills are particularly at risk.

“Companies that are unhedged and are having to buy power at or close to the spot price are really struggling,” he said. “If we don't see prices come down, then there is a very real risk of production shutdowns.”

The high UK prices are the result of the closure of a number of ageing nuclear and coal-fired plants for repairs, which has reduced generating capacity. Prices are expected to fall towards the end of the year as nuclear plants at Dungeness, Heysham and Hartlepool return to service.

National Grid insisted this week that there was sufficient capacity to meet demand this winter. In France, 78 per cent of electricity is generated from nuclear energy, which has been unaffected by high oil and coal prices, and its generating plants, much more modern than those in the UK, offset the problem of capacity shortfall.

Retail customers are not directly affected by the high wholesale price, although there are fears that continued upward pressure on prices could force power suppliers to raise bills again next year.

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