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European electricity prices jumped to record highs on Thursday as a prolonged heat wave put additional pressure on energy markets already under pressure from Russian cuts in gas supplies to the old continent, reports the Financial Times, quoted by BNR.
Germany's benchmark capacity for delivery next year, which is Europe's benchmark electricity price, rose more than 5% on the day to a record 452.50 euros per megawatt hour.
That's five times the price at this time last year.
Equivalent French energy prices rose by 4%, surpassing €600 per megawatt hour for the first time in history.
On the Bulgarian Independent Energy Exchange (BNEB), the price of electricity for tomorrow (August 12) rose to 772.27 BGN per megawatt hour (or 394.86 EUR per MWh) from 726.22 BGN (or 371.31 EUR) for today .
Electricity prices are heavily influenced by the price of gas and have been rising throughout the year as the price of gas has more than quadrupled.
Today, gas futures on the Dutch hub TTF rose briefly above €216 per megawatt hour before ending trading at around €208 per MWh.
Just before the year, the gas TTF futures price was below EUR 50 per megawatt hour.
A prolonged summer heat wave worsened the situation by disrupting production capacity while increasing demand for electricity.
Britain braces for another heat wave
A lack of strong winds due to high temperatures has reduced wind power production, while low water levels on the Rhine river have disrupted coal supplies to power plants in Germany, said William Peck, an EU electricity market analyst at commodity analysis firm ICIS. .
In France, where rivers are used to cool nuclear power plants, low water levels have also affected production, he added.
More than half of France's nuclear power capacity is offline for maintenance.
The UK generates some of its own energy from offshore wind power and gas supplied from the North Sea.
But Europe's interconnected electricity grid means future record electricity prices in Europe also push up electricity costs in the UK, Peck added.
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