The crisis in which Europe is immersed with electricity prices will increase next year, when it is estimated that the megawatt per hour (MWh) will exceed 1,000 euros in France, a level 12 times higher than the one in the 2021. That is at least the price at which electricity futures were trading yesterday, collected by Bloomberg.
That same indicator places the price in Germany at around 850 euros. They will be similar levels in the rest of the European Union, so they will be higher than today.
The fear that Russia will completely shut down the flow of gas has put the entire European Union on guard, which is rushing to implement energy-saving measures in the face of a possible lack of fuel. Just yesterday the Czech Republic, the country that holds the six-monthly presidency of the Council of the European Union, announced that it will convene an “urgent meeting” of energy ministers to discuss the situation in the face of price escalation in Europe and energy saving plans for ensure the bloc’s energy security.
In the case of France, there is the circumstance that an important part of its nuclear reactors are stopped. Nor does the drought help, which has caused many of its hydroelectric plants to not work either.
Current prices are still far from those €1,000 levels of next year. For today it is expected that in France the price of a megawatt per hour will be 626.76 euros. Although it is indeed far from the forecasts given for next year, it is still higher than the levels of a year ago, when electricity was 85 euros. In the rest of the markets, the situation is not expected to be better. In Germany, the average price will reach 607.84 euros, which is just over 200 euros from the expected level for next year. Where the price will be higher is in Italy. There an average price of 713.69 euros will be reached. Instead, the lowest level will be registered in the United Kingdom: about 555 euros at the current exchange rate.
Meanwhile, in Spain –as can be seen in the graph– the price will reach 385.85 euros today, with an increase of 21%. It is a much lower level than the rest of the EU countries thanks to the limit imposed on gas prices under the so-called “Iberian exception”. Still, it is the fifth highest record in history. The highest level occurred at the start of the war in Ukraine, when it exceeded 570 euros. The gas cap has worked to contain prices. According to data from the electricity market operator OMIE and the Iberian Gas Market (Mibgas), the wholesale price of electricity (the one paid by consumers with a regulated rate) will be around 106 euros lower than the 492.19 euros that the MWh would have been paid if the cap on gas for electricity generation had not been in place. In Portugal, where the cap on gas is also applied due to the “Iberian exception”, the price of the auction has marked the same as in Spain, a country with which it shares a market.
The next meeting of the European Union is expected to discuss “concrete” measures to deal with the energy crisis, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala explained yesterday. The Czech leader did not elaborate on possible new steps, but earlier this week he said that next Monday he will discuss possible price caps with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The Czechs and some other members of the European Union are calling for a common policy approach, as individual countries cannot cope with rising energy costs through local measures. The European Union has already allocated some 280 billion euros to ease rising prices.
