Electricity prices in Belgium are skyrocketing. The price of electricity for delivery tomorrow (Wednesday) thus reached 540.8 euros per MWh on the wholesale market, according to a trader. The previous record dated from March 7, 2022 and amounted to 460 euros/MWh. The absolute peak is 747.93 euros per MWh and corresponds to the delivery of electricity this Wednesday between 7 and 8 p.m.
Elsewhere in Europe, the price of electricity in Germany, for example, exceeded 500 euros per megawatt hour for the first time on Tuesday. It increased by 5.2% to 502 euros, an increase of around 500% in one year.
Historically expensive prices
Electricity in Europe is historically expensive, a consequence of record natural gas prices. The unavailability of some French nuclear power plants as well as low water levels, which are causing a drop in the production of hydroelectric power plants, make the situation even more problematic.
On Tuesday, the European gas price rose to more than 250 euros per MWh. According to the specialist and professor at ULiège, Damien Ernst, gas is “about 13 times more expensive than it was two years ago.” “An average household will pay 7,500 euros/year for its gas and electricity,” he says on his Twitter account.
Currently, Belgian electricity producers export massively to France and Germany.