Europe’s energy crisis deepened Dec. 21 as spiraling gas prices pushed European electricity contracts to unprecedented highs.

German Cal-2022 baseload power jumped 25% on the day to settle at Eur315.00/MWh. The benchmark contract traded as high as Eur315.99/MWh on EEX, up over 500% since the start of the year and more than doubling since Dec. 6. In France, undergoing record-low nuclear availability this winter, February baseload traded at Eur1,000/MWh while peakload traded at Eur2,000/MWh amid very thin volumes, with just 1 MW traded for each contract, EEX data showed. Gas prices continued to soar Dec. 21 across the board with Platts assessing TTF front-month at a record Eur180.30/MWh, up 23% on the days and also doubling since Dec. 6. The January 2021 contract was assessed at Eur16.825/MWh exactly a year ago. The on-year gain for gas alone […]