Gas transport through the Northern Stream will be suspended from August 31 to September 2 due to planned technical works, Gazprom announced. By the end of next year, the Norwegian electricity grid will not charge tariffs for electricity transmission. Other countries are also trying to help citizens with subsidies – but even that is not easy because the prices on the stock exchanges are going wild.
German industry that is heavily dependent on gas: producers of glass bottles, steel, medicine, chemicals and even laundries are already in trouble and fearing disruptions. They say that even before the Brussels austerity agreement, they cut consumption, and they need time to switch to another fuel.
“The costs are enormous, such measures, it is not something we can implement in half a year or a year. We have taken various measures and have already saved up to 20 percent of gas, we can operate the power plant only if we have a secured supply. We can’t partially close the plant, it’s on or off for us”, said Jan Ekerskorn, CEO of Zincpower Mckenhain.
The price of electricity in the Baltics exploded, Sweden announces higher subsidies
The Baltic electricity exchange exploded this week – electricity in one hour reached an incredible price of 4,000 euros per megawatt-hour.
The average price for Lithuania was a record almost 830 euros, so the country invited the European Union regulators to react on the electricity market. Fearing an even bigger crisis, businesses asked the government to limit prices and exports.
“This problem should be raised at the European level. But this is only one factor. The other factor is that currently, we simply do not physically produce enough electricity. The state could return all capacities and those that pollute a little more, such as gas and fuel oil to the market”, said Andrijus Romanovskis, president of the Lithuanian Business Confederation.
In Sweden, they are announcing higher electricity subsidies to protect consumers.
“Swedes can be sure that we will support households and businesses, especially those that are most affected. We want to introduce a maximum price for electricity, which means at least SEK 30 billion for electricity reimbursement for households”, said Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
Economists estimate that the increase in subsidies is counterproductive, as it will only lead to higher electricity consumption, RTS writes.
