Europe's Electricity Prices Spike to €500 a Megawatt-Hour as Drought Bites
Russian Oil Production Climbs Above 9 Million Bpd in July Haley Zaremba is an energy journalist and researcher with more than a decade of professional experience covering global energy systems, land and natural resources, and… Intense summer heat waves are threatening energy security across Europe.
The continent is facing a scorching and arid summer, causing electricity demand for air conditioning to skyrocket at the same time that rivers warm up and dry out with devastating consequences for the nuclear energy industry and for hydropower reserves.
Last month, France had toreduce output and shut down nuclear reactors at a record pacewithout sufficient and safe water supplies to cool its reactors.
And now, this week, Hungary had toshut down the Paks nuclear power plant over the weekendin a historic last-ditch effort, effectively cutting off 40 percent of the country’s electricity generation overnight.
“Due to the further drop in the Danube’s water level,” Prime Minister Péter Magyar tweeted on Saturday, “tomorrow it will be completely shut down for the first time in 44 years." Taking Paks offline led to an enormous swing in electricity prices across the region, with costs reaching a blistering €500 a megawatt-hour.
This whole week will be a crunch time for the country as temperatures soar to dangerous levels.
“An energy crisis situation may arise from Monday,” Magyar went on to warn.
“Coordinated steps and self-restraint will be needed to avoid more severe consequences.” SetOilPrice.comas a preferred source in Googlehere.
The crippling of Hungary’s energy output is also occurring when access to air-conditioning could be a matter of life and death for vulnerable individuals and the elderly.
Nearly half a million people in the world died of heat every year between 2000 and 2019 according to astudyfrom the Lancet, most of whom were elderly and therefore more vulnerable to high temperatures.
Under these conditions, air conditioning is not a luxury but a life-saving necessity, preventing approximately 190,000 deaths each year.
And things could soon get a whole lot worse.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
Comments
Post a Comment