By comparison, the average of four separate fees set individually in the four respective zones last year was 3.08 cents, allowing for rounding errors, the statement showed.

The fees could have increased much more sharply due to higher energy prices and rising costs to balance supply fluctuations on interconnected European grids, but the Berlin government will subsidise them with 12.7 billion euros ($12.56 billion), sources told Reuters earlier.

($1 = 1.0113 euros)

(Reporting by Vera Eckert, editing by Rachel More)