Electricity prices in Europe set a new record

The cost of futures contracts for the supply of electricity to Europe broke a record next year, informs Bloomberg. Moreover, the prices for delivery to some countries have doubled only in the last two months.

In particular, according to the results of trading on the European Energy Exchange, German prices rose by 3.2% to 475 ($487) euros per 1 MWh, which is almost six times higher than last year’s prices. The cost of the contract for the supply of electricity in the UK increased even more – seven times to 591 ($ 713) pounds sterling per 1 MWh.

As the agency notes, the high demand for electricity in Europe is provided by weather conditions – heat and drought in the region, they force consumers to use air conditioners that consume a large amount of energy. In this regard, many countries have fears that the energy resources that they have now will not be enough for heating in winter. In particular, in France, the production of nuclear energy is at a very low level, in the near future the country will not be able to export it.

In the UK, electricity prices are expected to double by October as wholesale prices rise. According to Rystad Energy analyst Fabian Ronningen, due to the low level of nuclear, hydroelectric and coal capacities on the continent, price increases will not stop in the coming months.

To deal with this situation, some governments want to nationalize energy concerns in order to regulate their work, control the volume of electricity generation and help them in times of crisis. In particular, France has already resorted to such a measure, which decided to buy out the remaining shares of the energy company Electricite de France (EDF) and delist, as well as Germany: it wants to acquire a 30% stake in the Uniper concern.

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