The European price tag for electricity has reached the highest level on record.
The price of electricity in Europe has reached the highest level on record. In Germany, the cost of a megawatt-hour for an annual supply, according to the results of trading on July 4, amounted to 325 euros, which is 13% higher than at the end of December. In France, the supply contract doubled in the same period to 366 euros. This is reported by the Financial Times newspaper.
The cost increase is due to the increase in the gas price to a four-month high of $1,800 per thousand cubic meters (TTF exchange contract) against the backdrop of reduced pipeline gas supplies from Russia, as well as due to maintenance problems at a large number of French nuclear power plants.
Neighboring European countries are helping France with electricity supplies, as a result burning even more gas. In June, Germany exported about 600,000 megawatt-hours of electricity to France, twice as much as last year. The UK, in turn, supplies France with up to 10% of its domestic demand. At the same time, the Ukrainian crisis, superimposed on the economic situation in Europe, exacerbated the situation.
In addition, the concerns of European countries regarding the supply of gas used to generate electricity in Europe are reinforced by the shutdown of Nord Stream for maintenance since July 11, which is still operating at only 40% of its capacity due to problems with the return of repaired turbines. The reason for the delays and, as a result, the drop in supplies through the pipeline was the Canadian sanctions. Germany plans to return to work coal-fired power plants, however, according to analysts, record high coal prices will not be able to solve the problem.
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