Moreover, gas is also used for residential heating and cooking, making the price surge even more noticeable in the final expenses of consumers.Ĭitizens in countries like Spain, Italy, France and Poland are now facing all-time-high energy bills that add to the economic woes caused by the pandemic.
The energy mix is vastly different across the bloc: fossil fuels have a marginal share in Sweden, France and Luxembourg, but take up more than 60% of total production in the Netherlands, Poland, Malta and Cyprus.Īs coal, the most polluting fuel, is progressively phased out, many countries resort to natural gas as a transitional resource to act as a bridge before green alternatives, like wind turbines and solar panels, are rolled out. Together, natural gas and coal still supply more than 35% of the EU's total production, with gas representing over a fifth. This, in turn, has sent electricity prices skyrocketing.Īlthough the European Union is gradually cutting down on its long-time dependency on fossil fuels – renewables became the bloc's main source of electricity for the first time in 2020 – the shift has not been fast and widespread enough to contain the fallout from the crunch.
Prices of natural gas are skyrocketing: at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, Europe's leading benchmark, prices have risen from €16 megawatt per hour in early January to €88 by late October, a hike of more than 450% in less than one year.
