France Germany soaring energy prices, up to 1,000 euros per megawatt hour.
As gas becomes more scarce, its price is also reaching record levels.
The causes are multiple and the result is alarming. In a crazy week for energy prices in Europe, wholesale electricity prices for 2023 in Germany and France broke new records on Friday at 850 euros and more than 1,000 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) respectively. In comparison, a year ago, the prices for these two countries were about 85 euros/MWh.
France Germany soaring energy prices
Among the causes behind the explosion in prices, the drying up of Russian gas flows to Europe since the beginning of the war in Ukraine: many thermal power plants use gas to generate electricity.
As gas becomes more scarce, its price is also reaching record levels.
France Germany soaring energy prices details
In France, only 24 of EDF's 56 nuclear reactors are currently operating, in particular due to a corrosion problem, which reduces French electricity production to a historically low level, and mechanically increases prices. For next December specifically, the megawatt hour of electricity is already trading at more than 1,600 euros, an extraordinary level.
The European Union and the Member States are in the process of implementing energy saving and sobriety plans, knowing that as winter approaches, the risk of shortages and power outages increases.
# France Germany soaring energy prices #
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Gas stocks: France exceeds 90% filling for winter
A stock that allows France to approach winter more calmly than its neighbors, but which will not prevent having to limit gas and electricity consumption.
France is (almost) ready for winter! The country had filled, on Thursday morning, 90% of its gas stocks for the winter, according to the European platform Aggregated Gas Storage Inventory (AGSI). We are on the right track, therefore, to meet our objectives in order to face this winter potential energy shortages related to the war in Ukraine.
The government's goal is to manage to fill the country's natural gas storage capacity to 100% by November, while the tap on Russian exports to Western countries that support Ukraine is gradually drying up, and gas prices in Europe are breaking records. The price was moving at more than 300 euros per megawatt hour on Wednesday morning, at levels not seen since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
As a reminder, the Russian giant Gazprom has stopped gas deliveries to several European countries since the beginning of the war in Ukraine and drastically reduced its deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream gas pipeline in June.
In France, in detail, the stocks of Teréga, one of the two managers of the country's gas transmission network, were at 91.21% of their capacity, while those of Storengy, a subsidiary of Engie, were at 89.67%, according to the AGSI website. Germany's strategic storage facilities are 81.07% full according to the AGSI website. In addition to France, only four European countries out of 27 are more than 90%: Portugal (100%), Poland (99.56%), Sweden (90.8%) and Denmark (93.76%). All countries have filled their tanks to more than 50%, the worst off being Latvia (55%) and Bulgaria (59%).
France, which says it is in a more "favorable" situation than its neighbors, is counting on gas stocks filled to the maximum and on a new LNG terminal next year to receive liquefied gas imports from countries other than Russia.
The Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, had indicated during the summer that the government's objective was to fill the stocks to 100% "before the first of November", while operators usually have the obligation to fill these reserves to 85% by that date.
Even if the gas reserves are 100% full, it will also be necessary to reduce its consumption to be able to spend the winter, both gas and electricity. The ban on the open doors of heated or air-conditioned stores, and that of illuminated advertisements at night (with the exception of train stations and airports) is expected before "the end of summer", according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. A bill to develop renewable energies is also being prepared.
