As complex as Europe’s energy situation may be, it can be understood with some relatively simple arithmetic. Barring another extraordinarily warm winter, the continent will have a natural-gas deficit of at least 60 billion cubic meters, which it will have to close with imports and consumption reductions.
MILAN – Europe can heave a sigh of relief – for now. Thanks to an exceptionally mild winter and a well-designed strategy of supply diversification and consumption-reduction measures, the continent avoided what could have been a catastrophic energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its untapped gas-storage capacity is at around 60% – ten percentage points above the historical average for this time of the year – and the benchmark TTF price has fallen more than 85% from its peak last August, from €340 per megawatt hour ($360/MWh) to less than €50/MWh.
MILAN – Europe can heave a sigh of relief – for now. Thanks to an exceptionally mild winter and a well-designed strategy of supply diversification and consumption-reduction measures, the continent avoided what could have been a catastrophic energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its untapped gas-storage capacity is at around 60% – ten percentage points above the historical average for this time of the year – and the benchmark TTF price has fallen more than 85% from its peak last August, from €340 per megawatt hour ($360/MWh) to less than €50/MWh.