State electricity grid distributor Elering says it plans to encase some of its infrastructure, including transformers, in concrete, following Wednesday's... by ERR in Estonia

If the state uses strategic reserves (oil stocks, coal plants) to suppress prices now, going forward ... - Consumers will diversify & hedge less - Traders will store less - Utilities will invest less ... making the next crisis worse. 1/2

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA said at Lex Fridman's podcast (0h53) that to "solve the energy problem" more people need to understand that data centers should shift load across time and space. @nworbmot.bsky.social, iegor and I share this view: www.bruegel.org/first-glance...

Eric Mayer interviewed me for 3Sat 1) in contrast to 22/23 it is a price, not a volume crisis 2) global price ↑ affect imports from all regions (incl NO) as contracts are largely indexed to Brent/TTF 3) increased EU import cost is roughly €100bn for oil, & €100bn gas www.linkedin.com/posts/eric-m...

Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA said at Lex Fridman's podcast (0h53) that to "solve the energy problem" more people need to understand that data centers should shift load across time and space. @nworbmot.bsky.social, iegor and I share this view: www.bruegel.org/first-glance...

Qatar was the one major LNG exporter geographically and politically flexible enough to sell to all major importers. While Europe bought little Qatari gas, losing that option grants the EU's current suppliers significantly more leverage over the market. www.bruegel.org/analysis/dep...

Qatar was the one major LNG exporter geographically and politically flexible enough to sell to all major importers. While Europe bought little Qatari gas, losing that option grants the EU's current suppliers significantly more leverage over the market. www.bruegel.org/analysis/dep...

❗ EU Council today ⚠️ Following growing calls to undermine the EU's #emissions trading system, @tagliapietra.bsky.social and @gzachmann.bsky.social argue that there are 5 reasons why any proposals to water down the ETS would harm economic #competitiveness. 🔗 www.bruegel.org/first-glance... #euco

Oil and gas markets are spooked this morning as energy infrastructure became a target in the Iran war. The global energy heartland within less than 500 km from Irans borders (Gulf + Caspian) holds maybe a third of global oil and a fifth of global gas production.

Normally, natural gas and carbon prices are strongly correlated. If carbon prices increase power sector switch from coal to gas -> more gas demand If gas prices increase power sector switch to coal -> more allowance demand But currently economic and regulatory uncertainty weight heavily on ETS.

Kraftstoffmaßnahmenpaket, deutscher wird‘s nicht.

In light of current discussions - allow me to reshare our* paper from September 2022, that provides a quick economic primer on the proposed solutions to the gas-price crisis: www.bruegel.org/system/files... *[by @jzettelmeyer.bsky.social, @tagliapietra.bsky.social, @cheussaff.bsky.social]

Italy, energy-wise, is a mystery to me.

An excellent policy brief 👇🏻 from @bruegel.org with many informative numbers on energy dependence. Among others, it makes the important point that the US is not Russia, in terms of 🇪🇺's bargaining position. 1/n

Climate models predict an exceptionally strong El Niño coming winter - with (uncertain) median forecasts of 2.5°C above normal.

Data on EU's dependence on US energy.

Ukraine's power supply situation continued to relax this week - but the next winter will come in only seven month. GDU's weekly tracker: greendealukraina.org/gd-tracker/s... 1/2

In some of Europe's sunniest countries 1 MWh of average solar generation is still worth more than 60 € (HR, BG, RO, HU, GR) and in IT it is worth more than 90€/MWh. (In 2026 it will likely be more.) This compares to maybe 40-50 €/MWh of average cost of utility solar www.bruegel.org/dataset/eu-r...

Nothing to add.

🆕 Dependence on fossil fuels, not on the United States, is Europe’s worry We argue that the EU's energy import dependence on the US is not comparable to the historic Russian situation. A scenario in which the US uses this trade to extract political concessions from the EU is far-fetched. 1/4

End of the line, Berlin.

📊Updated: EU renewables value tracker, summarised by Marie Jugé ☀️🍃Explore highlights of the average market value for solar and wind energy in the EU! 🔗Check the full dataset update: buff.ly/sc1THH8 ✒️@mariejuge.bsky.social, @aroth.bsky.social and @gzachmann.bsky.social

So we are back to discussing (indirect) subsidies for imported gas - hoping the EU consumer wins. In reality everyone - except the LNG-exporters - loses:

Getting the market to store gas in Europe for this winter will be difficult if - as todays futures curve suggests - buying next month is always cheaper than buying this month.

After a harsh winter, spring finally seems to be taking hold for the Ukrainian electricity system. greendealukraina.org/gd-tracker/s...

Last week saw the highest weekly EU LNG imports ever recorded. Total weekly gas imports also hit their highest levels since early 2023.

After a harsh winter, spring finally seems to be taking hold for the Ukrainian electricity system. greendealukraina.org/gd-tracker/s...

Last week saw the highest weekly EU LNG imports ever recorded. Total weekly gas imports also hit their highest levels since early 2023.

Getting the market to store gas in Europe for this winter will be difficult if - as todays futures curve suggests - buying next month is always cheaper than buying this month.

It would be really great, if Entso-E generation data and capacity data would be consistent - especially for solar. Because of different data-definitions, production in sunny hours can be twice the capacity.

French Treasury paper highlights the benefits of electricity interconnectors & argues: - Within &between country transfers might be useful to get incentives right - Value of add. domestic transmission should be considered - EU coordination to reduce cost www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Articles/202...

TTF natural gas prices jumped today by about 20% for deliveries this year: [for following years increase is much smaller]

TTF natural gas prices jumped today by about 20% for deliveries this year: [for following years increase is much smaller]

OPEC+ decided today to increase oil production by 206,000 barrels per day from April 2026 - mentioning low oil stocks and economic growth - but avoiding any reference to Iran. www.opec.org/pr-detail/16...

US data center construction rose to a new record high in data released today, exceeding a $45B annualized rate (and this only includes the data center facilities, not the expensive computers within) Growth has slowed slightly, but investment is still up 30% over the last year

You can have no idea where this sentence is going as.ft.com/r/4860d9c4-7...

Michael Pahle, Darius Sultani, and I published a new Bruegel Policy Brief on the EU Climate Architecture. The full paper explores several important aspects in quite some detail, so I thought I’d highlight a few key points here: 1/12

Michael Pahle, Darius Sultani, and I published a new Bruegel Policy Brief on the EU Climate Architecture. The full paper explores several important aspects in quite some detail, so I thought I’d highlight a few key points here: 1/12

As a rare climate scientist working in Silicon Valley, I've been drinking from the AI firehose a lot more than my peers. I thought it would be helpful to lay out my experiences of both the promise and pitfalls of using AI to accelerate scientific research:

🌳Defragmenting European Union climate policy Simplification without carbon price convergence risks deeper fragmentation, higher costs and weaker credibility for the EU’s climate target ✒️Michael Pahle & Darius Sultani @pik-potsdam.bsky.social , @gzachmann.bsky.social 🔗 buff.ly/jPO2lLj #EconSky

This week, @aroth.bsky.social , @tagliapietra.bsky.social, and I prepared a new policy brief for the ongoing discussions regarding EU electricity governance. As it covers extensive ground, I would like to highlight a few points:

Our EU gas demand tracker was updated by @bmcwilliams.bsky.social Rather than falling in line with EU energy strategies, EU gas demand crept back up to 90% of pre-crisis levels. www.bruegel.org/dataset/euro... 1/3

For as long as I can remember, IT hardware followed a simple rule: wait a year, pay less. But after the COVID spike and almost three years of continuous price hikes since about 2023, that 'law' feels broken.

Did this interview with Barry Eichengreen about his forthcoming book on the history of international currencies and what it tells us about the dollar (and the euro) today. geopolitique.eu/en/2026/02/2...

It was carbon prices, that prevented a surge in coal-based power generation in 2025 in the EU.

Our EU gas demand tracker was updated by @bmcwilliams.bsky.social Rather than falling in line with EU energy strategies, EU gas demand crept back up to 90% of pre-crisis levels. www.bruegel.org/dataset/euro... 1/3

Key insight of a very useful thread on European energy prices.