The price of electricity, which stood at 53 euros (about 1,340 CZK) per MWh at the start of the year, has now exceeded 130 euros (about 3365 CZK) per MWh on the Prague Energy Exchange.
According to analysts, the rocketing growth of wholesale gas prices, together with high prices of emission allowances, is the main reason for the record stock exchange prices of electricity.
The wholesale price of gas with supply next year is 3.5 times higher than the beginning of this year and amounts to 57.7 euros / MWh.
Experts say the wholesale price of gas could be reduced by the planned commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. However, gas supplies through the pipeline have yet to be approved by the German regulator and it can take up to four months for gas to start flowing along a new route that bypasses Ukraine.
Michal Macenauer, Director of Strategy at the Energy Consulting Company EGÚ Brno, said last week that the reason for the current rise in gas prices is, among other things, the low utilization of pipeline capacity, especially across Ukraine.
The Ukrainian agency Unian stated today, that Gazprom has stopped transporting natural gas to Hungary through the territory of Ukraine.
Gazprom’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Hungary via Ukraine shows that Russia is using energy supplies as a weapon, according to Reuters, the director of the Ukrainian company Naftogaz, Yuri Vitrenko. According to him, it is necessary to respond to this procedure by sanctions against the Nord Stream gas pipeline 2.
Other factors are behind the dramatic rise in energy prices. Demand for electricity and gas is being driven by the rapid recovery of the European economy, which is pushing prices up.
However, electricity has mainly become so expensive due to a sharp rise in the price of emission allowances this year, from around EUR 33 to around EUR 60 per tonne of carbon dioxide.
Prices are rising due to the European Commission’s ambitious plans to reduce emissions by 55 percent by the end of the decade compared to the figure recorded in 1990.
