The “whatever it takes” strategy adopted during the pandemic, when governments tried to absorb most of the economic harm done, has been replicated. This will weigh on government budgets
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskThat is not the only indication that Europe is in for a less bitter winter than seemed possible only a few months ago. Natural gas to be delivered in the first quarter of next year is selling for about €125 per megawatt-hour , down from over €300 during the summer. Wholesale power prices in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, have plunged from a peak of more than €800/As a result, the feared economic meltdown has not materialised.
Despite all this, however, the amount of gas-fired power has actually grown, because of the big reductions in nuclear and hydropower generation., the state-owned operator of France’s nuclear plants, keeps revising down its generation forecasts. Although a wet autumn has refilled reservoirs in the Nordic countries, hydropower remains curtailed in Italy. And it takes time, whatever the incentives, to expand wind-power in particular.
These divisions will presumably worsen as the economic outlook gets gloomier. The current strength of the economy is mostly a holdover from the past. Firms sit on a record number of orders left unfulfilled because of the pandemic and subsequent disruptions to supply chains. Households in richer countries still retain savings that accumulated when restrictions on travel and fun made spending money hard.
The response of the broader public to Europe’s energy crisis has been more muted. There have been some protests at rising prices and strikes over wages that have failed to keep pace. But there has been no continent-wide movement akin to the, protesters who brought parts of France to a standstill in 2018-19 over the cost of living. In fact, the relatively few big protests in recent months have tended to focus on local issues.
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