In Europe, the increase in renewable energy capacity, in particular solar, has led to a record decrease in the price of natural gas from mid-2021 by more than 65%.
Thus, in June, Dutch gas will be delivered for €24.68 per megawatt-hour, and prices are likely to continue to fall, Bloomberg reports.
The material said that such a price reduction is due to a number of factors, including a warm winter. However, the main factor was the growth of RES. Thus, in Germany, from the beginning of 2023, 11% of solar capacity was added from the level of 2022.
It is noted that the Kollsnes gas processing plant in Norway began to malfunction, and the Montoir liquefied natural gas (LNG) import plant in France is planned to be stopped. Also, the block's gas storage facilities are likely to be filled earlier than expected.
"Traders will have to adapt more and more to the production of green electricity, as Europe builds capacity in an effort to reduce its dependence on gas after Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the authors emphasized.
According to forecasts Bloomberg, in Germany, wind and solar generation will provide 76% of total energy by 2030.
Sarah Brown, head of the European program at energy think tank Ember, noted that much of the growth in solar installations in the EU is due to:
- faster transition from expensive fossil fuels;
- avoiding the further impact of energy price increases;
- avoiding security threats that have occurred in the past 18-24 months.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that the report of the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed that in 2023, investments in solar energy will exceed the costs of oil production for the first time.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, in France, the share of renewable energy reached 20.7% of gross final consumption in 2022, which is 1.4% more than in 2021.
