Economy minister: Energy prices depend on Germany and EU

Although gas and electricity prices on exchanges have fallen in recent days, they are still several times higher than at the beginning of this year. Slovakia cannot influence these prices and must wait for decisions to be made by the German government and the European Commission, Economy Minister Richard Sulík (SaS) has told TASR news agency. He added that the high energy prices are also linked to the postponement of the launch of the new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the decision to shut down German nuclear power plants and the rising price of emission permits.  
 
The lack of electricity from other sources has forced countries in Europe to bring back into operation some coal-fired power plants and gas-fired alternatives. But this has increased demand for gas, and also for emission permits, the price of which has risen by over 150% this year – to almost 80 euro per tonne. This has subsequently been reflected in the current high price of electricity. Record gas prices are in turn supported by the shortage of gas in European storage facilities and limited supplies from Russia. Prices have recently fallen, however, because of the promise of increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Europe.