The economic powerhouses of the European Union, France and Germany, both set records on Friday for electricity prices, as the West’s sanctions war with Russia continues to bite.
This time last year the cost of electricity per megawatt-hour (MWh) in both France and Germany sat at around 85 euros. On Friday, both countries set record highs, with the cost climbing by at least 1,000 per cent from last year to €850 in Germany and over €1,000 in France, Le Monde reports.
While the price of energy has been rising since the end of the lockdown measures across the world last summer, Europe, and Germany in particular, have been subject to soaring prices as a result of slowing flows of gas from Russia following the sanctions clash following the February invasion of Ukraine, with many thermal power plants using natural gas to generate electricity.