Opportunities in the EU energy crisis – part 1

Part 2 and 3 will be posted shortly, keep an eye on our site.

The past few months have been characterised by extremely high energy prices in Europe. Wholesale market gas prices have increased fivefold compared to 2020 levels. EU ETS allowances have known a steady steep increase from 30€/ton up to nearly 90 €/ton. With CCGTs leading the merit order for most of the time, it is therefore no surprise that also the wholesale electricity price has followed this upward trend. 

Amidst this energy crisis, multiple parties have known the impact of this expensive energy. Industrial sites have announced to temporarily halt production (1)(2), energy suppliers have gone bust (3)(4) and an increasing amount of EU citizens experience energy poverty (5). With possible winter weather just around the corner, the near future is looking bleak.

But as the saying goes: never waste a good crisis. It is not all doom and gloom, this energy crisis could in fact give impulses to speed up the energy transition. Energy efficiency measures have known receding payback times and so have investments in renewables. But also existing assets can be optimised and controlled in a smart way so to prevent excessive energy costs or even generate profits. Opportunities exist, after all it is the fossil energy which is expensive.

Follow up on the opportunities in the energy crisis with our upcoming blog posts!

References

1. https://bnn-news.com/
2. https://www.ft.com/
3. https://www.vrt.be/
4. https://www.reuters.com/
5. https://www.euronews.com/