Expert: Energy prices will continue to rise, heating will rise sharply in winter

It is clear that energy prices are rising, and gas prices at European gas hubs are at their highest level in 13 years. The problem with natural gas is complex. At first, the winter was a little longer than usual, which depleted the warehouses. Second, Gazprom no longer offers gas, despite increased demand, probably for geopolitical reasons - to build Nord Stream-2 faster. To this we must add the Green Transition, which makes us increasingly dependent on natural gas. This was explained by Vesselin Todorov, chairman of the Association of Producers and Traders of Natural Gas and Hydrogen, in the show "The World is Business" on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.

Another reason for the growth is the rapid recovery of Asian economies, which are willing to pay more for liquefied natural gas than European markets. "Most supplies go to Asia, China, Japan and thus the shortage in the EU continues to grow."

The expert also predicts a gradual rise in prices by the beginning of next year.

"This is a more pessimistic forecast from the end user's point of view. I, of course, want to confuse this prediction. I want prices to start falling as soon as possible, because this way we will see a much more stable market. ”According to Todorov, there are currently large companies in Bulgaria (for example from the chemical industry) that stop production just because of the high price of gas.

"We haven't seen such high prices since 2008," the guest said, later adding that he said we currently have a "perfect storm."

As for the price of energy to end users, it will rise tremendously, not only because of the cost of natural gas, but also because of the price of carbon emissions, Todorov said. He explains that there is a big disproportion between the estimated prices of the individual energy components, on the basis of which a decision is made on the price of electricity and heat and their real market value at the moment, which is much higher. The expert believes that if there is no change with price increases, a company may go bankrupt and not fulfill its social function.

"Household subscribers need to prepare for a winter in which their bills will be higher than any other winter so far," Todorov said. According to his estimates, it is a 20-30% increase.

It is clear from the conversation that EWRC is looking for a solution and reserves to deal with the situation, but it will hardly be able to find such. "Balance cannot be found," the guest is sure.

The delayed diversification of gas supplies and the construction of infrastructure are at the root of existing and future problems, it became clear from the conversation in the studio of "The world is business". See more in the conversation and why Veselin Todorov believes that we can not rely only on renewable energy, what are the problems with energy storage and balancing the system, why the transition from coal to gas in cogeneration plants will not increase prices. Also find out what the "virtual gas trade" we have with Greece is.