- Europe's benchmark price for power next year has gained for six consecutive days.
- German power for 2023 rose as much as 2.6% to 240 euros per megawatt-hour.
- The price increase comes as Russia cuts off more European customers from gas supplies.
Europe's benchmark price for power reached the highest level of 2022 on Tuesday as the European Union sanctions Russian coal while Moscow cuts off natural gas supplies.
German power for next year posted its sixth day of gains, rising as much as 2.6% to 240 euros per megawatt-hour to the highest price ever for the 2023 contract on the EEX-exchange, Bloomberg reported.
Markets are pricing in gas cutoffs from Russia, which has been shutting off supplies to customers that refuse its demand to conduct transactions exclusively in rubles.
On Tuesday, Russian energy giant Gazprom shut off the valve to the Netherlands after the Dutch said it would not pay in Moscow's native currency. The Kremlin has also cut off supplies to Bulgaria, Poland, and Finland, with more expected.
Meanwhile, an EU ban on Russian coal, another key source of power generation, is set to go into effect in August.
Europe is simultaneously trying to grow energy stockpiles to prepare for a potentially stark winter as the energy crisis worsens. Bloomberg noted that the EU's energy storage levels are 46% full, which is also a 2022 high.
Russia has faced increased pressure on its energy sector since its invasion of Ukraine. The US has banned Russian oil, and the EU said Tuesday that it would follow suit with a partial end to imports of Russian crude by the end of 2022.