Germany: record electricity prices set next indeed. Black future
Electricity prices in Germany hit a record high on Friday after several utility companies in Europe warned of less electricity availability due to hot, dry weather affecting nuclear and coal power generation for the difficulties in cooling turbines.
The price of electricity in Europe's largest market, Germany, rose 2% in the early hours of Friday, reaching a record $ 419 (€ 410) per megawatt hour (MWh), according to Bloomberg estimates .
More and more power companies in Europe are trying to switch to fuels other than natural gas due to the high prices and uncertainty of Russian supplies as the continent scrambles to fill gas storage sites ahead of winter. Unfortunately, the supply of coal is limited due to the low water level of the River Rhine, one of the main transport corridors for coal and fuels in Europe.
Electricity prices were further put under pressure on Friday by an announcement from Switzerland's Axpo Holding, which is reducing production at the Beznau nuclear power plant due to restrictions on the use of hot water to cool the reactors. France's EDF has warned for weeks that its nuclear power generation in France would be curtailed because the high temperatures of the Rhône and Garonne rivers make them too hot to cool the reactors.
In Germany, however, power companies are warning that some coal-fired plants may run erratically for a month, due to limited coal supplies due to low water levels on the Rhine, which make it difficult to transport coal by barge.
According to alerts posted on the EEX power exchange, German energy giant Uniper – the one the government bailed out last month with a $ 15 billion package – warned that the units of two coal-fired power plants it operates could face irregularities. until 7 September.
Hot, dry weather in Germany is expected to continue for weeks, which could drive electricity prices further up in Germany and Europe ahead of the winter if utilities fail to try alternative solutions. Certainly this year there was a very particular combination of factors. However, in general, we hope that it rains and a lot, because otherwise half of Europe, Germany in the lead, will go into an energy crisis.
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The article Germany: record electricity prices set next indeed. Futuro nero comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/germania-prezzi-record-fissati-per-lelettricita-il-prossimo-invero-futuro-nero/ on Sat, 06 Aug 2022 08:00:03 +0000.