The energy ministers of the European Union (EU) member states will hold an extraordinary meeting on September 9 to discuss the rapid increase in natural gas and electricity prices.
Jozef Sikela, Minister of Industry and Trade of Czechia, the Presidency of the EU, made statements to the local press regarding the energy crisis in Europe. Stating that the electricity market has served Europeans for 30 years and has driven down energy prices, Sikela said, “Now we have to accept that the energy market is not working as it should. The market is frozen and therefore we need to fix it.” used the phrases. Sikela noted that, as the term president, he invited the energy ministers of EU countries to an extraordinary meeting and stated that it was decided to hold this meeting on September 9.
Reminding that the megawatt hour price of natural gas was around 18 Euros in July last year, Sikela stated that the prices in question amounted to 310 Euro/MWh. European benchmark gas TTF, TSI 16:
Sikela stated that the price increase was due to various reasons such as the war in Ukraine, the decrease in gas flow from Russia, and the maintenance of nearly half of the nuclear power plants in France due to technical problems. The scheduled meeting of EU energy ministers was to be held in Prague on 11-12 October. Some EU member states are demanding a cap on natural gas and a change in electricity market activity. Czech Republic is one of these members. Belgium also signaled that it supports the proposal to impose a ceiling price on energy prices. According to a document seen by Reuters, a memo written by Belgian authorities “supports the introduction of price ceilings in the European Union’s gas and electricity sales centers and the suspension of transactions in ‘irrational market movements’.
“We are preparing for an emergency response in electricity”
Due to the deepening of the problems in the Union’s electricity market, the EU is also preparing for an emergency response. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that they are preparing for an emergency response to the European electricity market.
