A lack of wind and sun in Europe in the coming days will result in high electricity prices. The prices of electricity and gas also threaten to remain high throughout 2022. This is apparent from the market prices for the following year.
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Source: BELGIAN
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Little sun and hardly any wind lead to electricity prices on the Belgian short-term market approaching 300 euros per megawatt hour. However, the Belgian nuclear power plants are running at full capacity. But because of the coupling of our energy market to the rest of Europe, this is hardly noticeable. Because the French nuclear power stations are running less, France in particular imports a lot of electricity at very high prices.
But next year is not likely to bring much improvement. Market experts point out that the forward price for the whole of 2022 is currently 200 euros/MWh. That is the price on the wholesale market that suppliers charge to supply electricity for the whole year. This is the highest forward price ever for a year.
A combination of high raw material prices – especially natural gas -, expensive emission allowances and rising demand has been driving record prices for electricity and natural gas in Europe for more than six months. This translates into extremely high energy bills for households and businesses, resulting in sky-high inflation.
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