Energy prices continue to rise in Europe and the Czech presidency of the European Union will convene an extraordinary energy council to discuss new measures that can be applied in all member states to mitigate the negative effects on companies and families. The reference price for natural gas for Europe (TTF, traded in the Netherlands) is above 300 euros per megawatt-hour (€/MWh), returning to the values of March this year, when it reached a record following the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia.
The sharp rise in prices for this raw material last week was due to the announcement by Gazprom that it would completely suspend the supply of natural gas through the Nord Stream pipeline for three days, between Wednesday and Friday of this week for maintenance.
With the rise of natural gas, the prices of electricity (used by combined cycle plants) rise. One-year contracts on the French electricity market surged 25% on Friday, according to EEX (European Energy Exchange) data advanced by Bloomberg, to €1,130/MWh. In Germany, the rise was 33% to 995 euros/MWh.
On the Czech agenda for the extraordinary meeting of energy ministers of the 27, still without a date, will be the fixing of price ceilings. The prime minister of that country, Petr Fiala, has already said that he is negotiating support for a solution across the entire EU. The European Commission itself already admits to generalizing the gas ceilings.
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