The frosty temperatures poised to grip most of Europe by the weekend will drop even further next week, boosting energy demand during the winter’s first cold snap.
Temperatures in Berlin will plunge to -2.5C (27.5F) from Saturday and into next week, while London will be 4.1C below normal on Sunday, according to Maxar Technologies Inc. All of Europe will be colder than normal until at least Dec. 6, according to the forecaster.
The cold weather will replace the unusually warm conditions that dominated the region for much of the autumn and delayed the seasonal ramp up in power and gas consumption. While Europe is much better prepared to meet peak demand than a year ago — with gas storage levels almost full — substantial increases in demand may send prices soaring.
But power supplies on the continent will get a boost from soaring German wind output. The turbines are likely to produce at near-record levels later this week. Output is expected to reach 50.47 gigawatts at 10 p.m. on Thursday, according to a Bloomberg model. That’s just shy of a record of 50.8 gigawatts set in January, according to the European Energy Exchange AG.
