Northern Europe has encountered an increase in the energy crisis due to a water deficit. The exhaustion of the reservoir prevents the production of hydroelectric energy – the most important source of electricity in Scandinavia, reports Bloomberg.
In September, electricity prices in Northern Europe increased fivefold compared with the same period of 2020. Electricity deficit interferes with the work of enterprises, and consumers encounter higher accounts. Northern Europe also lacks natural gas and coal. “The combination of a low level of fullness of the Scandinavian reservoirs and gas storage in Europe creates the perfect storm to which high prices for coal are added. The price fluctuations that we have observed in Europe have reached Scandinavia,” said the head of the Fortum Oyj Mat Mats Persication.
The level of hydropower in Norway in September was the weakest of the last ten years. In the southwest of the country, the degree of filling the reservoirs on September 20 amounted to 52.3 percent, which is the lowest figure since 2006. “Usually, the reservoirs are filled at this time of the year, but also in August, and in September we had records around the heat and very little precipitation,” said Vice-President for Energy in Agder Energi Anders Gaudestad.
According to the main analyte, Stormgeo Nena, water is not enough for energy exports and to the continent, and in the UK. “The idea that we are a” green battery “for Europe, destroyed,” said the analyst of the Swedish energy company Skelleftea Kraft Andre Gustavsson. Sweden relies on a 52-year-old oil combustion plant to ensure light, and the local communal enterprise is trying to convince the factory to save energy on the eve of winter cold weather.
According to market participants, the cost of electricity will remain high, since atomic, coal and gas companies are derived from operation. In the coming months, price increases may lead to the fact that inflation in Sweden will exceed three percent – record indicator since 2008.
The energy crisis, exacerbated due to lack of water, began as a result of gas deficit. Reducing supplies from Russia caused a record increase in prices in Europe. On October 1, the cost of gas for the first time in history exceeded $ 1,200 per thousand cubic meters. At the time of writing the news, the price of gas is $ 1180 per thousand cubic meters, according to the London Ice Exchange.