EU countries with the cleanest energy mix will help cushion the rise in oil and gas prices, as the war with Iran highlights the true costs of fossil fuel dependence. <\/p>\n
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Within two days of the strike in the Middle East, Dutch TTF (benchmark pan-European wholesale gas prices) prices soared 68% to \u20ac52.8 per megawatt hour, the highest level in two years. <\/p>\n
Earlier this week (Monday, April 20th), Dutch TTF was trading at a steep discount of \u20ac40.2 per MWh. This drop came after there were signs of significant de-escalation during a two-week ceasefire, but it is still significantly higher than before the conflict began (31.5 euros per MWh).<\/p>\n
Much of the fluctuation is due to Iran’s stranglehold on the 38-kilometre-long Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the EU fell by 11% in March.<\/p>\n
In response, the EU’s energy commissioner advised countries to steadily replenish stocks over the summer to “relieve pressure on prices and avoid a late summer rush.” <\/p>\n
It has also paved the way for burgeoning interest in homegrown renewable energy, which is increasingly being touted as a more stable investment given geopolitical tensions.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres said last month: “There will be no price hikes for solar power or embargoes on wind power.” <\/p>\n
Can clean energy protect the EU from rising gas prices?<\/h2>\n
A new report from the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA) finds that despite growing concerns about sharply rising prices and declining supply, the region remains “better protected” from price sensitivity than it was in 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. <\/p>\n
This is mainly due to the boom in renewable energy, which is set to reach a new record in 2025 and could save the EU a staggering \u20ac5.8 billion in 2026 by replacing expensive gas. <\/p>\n
Experts point out that this price would be significantly higher if gas prices were not involved in determining energy prices in many countries due to the EU’s marginal price mechanism. <\/p>\n
In 2025, for every \u20ac1\/MWh increase in gas prices, electricity prices also increased by \u20ac0.37\/MWh, an 8% reduction from 2022. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is directly linked to decoupling.\u201d [the price of electricity] “Due to investments in gas and clean energy, its share in electricity generation in the EU increased by 14 percent in 2025 compared to 2022,” the report explains.<\/p>\n
Which EU countries are most protected from rising gasoline prices?<\/h2>\n
All EU member states have seen their sensitivity to gas price fluctuations decrease in recent years due to the rise in clean energy.<\/p>\n
However, it is consumers in five EU countries, in particular Denmark, Finland, France, Sweden and Slovakia, who benefit from the highest share of clean energy in the electricity mix. The report says these countries could save \u20ac8.5 billion on their energy bills this year. This reduces your bill by 58 percent compared to the dirtiest countries (Poland, Italy, Greece, Estonia and the Netherlands). <\/p>\n
This estimate assumes that consumption this year remains the same as in 2025, but takes into account price increases and sensitivity to gasoline prices.<\/p>\n
According to 2025 data, Sweden emerged victorious as the least sensitive country to gas price shocks among EU countries. On average, for every \u20ac1 increase in gas prices, Sweden records an increase of just \u20ac0.04\/MWh in wholesale electricity prices. <\/p>\n
“Sweden is currently one of nine countries with gas storage significantly below the EU average, but with 99 per cent of its electricity coming from clean energy and less dependence on electricity sources, the electricity market is further insulated from price shocks,” the report said. <\/p>\n
Spain and Portugal are also benefiting from accelerated investment in renewable energy, with clean energy increasing by 21% in 2025 compared to 2022. This is mainly led by the solar power boom of 74%.<\/p>\n
At the same time, both countries’ sensitivity to gasoline price shocks fell by 53 percent. Last year, for every \u20ac1 increase in gas prices, the price per MWh rose by \u20ac0.089 in the Spanish-Portuguese co-production zone, the third lowest in the region. <\/p>\n
France has also seen a sharp decline in its sensitivity to gas prices, mainly due to the growth of clean energy, with its gas sensitivity halved between 2022 and 2025. <\/p>\n
Which countries are paying the price for their dependence on fossil fuels?<\/h2>\n
The Netherlands is still more sensitive to gas prices than in 2022, despite a 31% increase in clean electricity generation.<\/p>\n
Gas continues to be the country’s largest source of electricity, even though solar and wind power account for a higher share of the country’s electricity than the EU average. <\/p>\n
“Their sensitivity is also related to their high degree of integration into European gas markets, often as price takers, making them susceptible to shocks transmitted from neighboring countries such as Germany,” the report adds. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhile gas has traditionally played a large role in centralized power generation (22%) in the Netherlands, clean energy sources, especially solar, are playing a larger role in decentralized power generation.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, in the Netherlands solar power is often used during the day, but in the evening other power sources need to be ramped up, often gas.<\/p>\n
Poland is another exception to the EU-wide trend. Despite renewable energy recording a 48% year-on-year growth from 2022 onwards, the country remains highly sensitive to gas prices.<\/p>\n
This is mainly because Poland is promoting gas power generation to replace and reduce coal, which remains essential for more than half of the country’s total electricity production.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoland’s pivot to gas instead of clean energy sources led to a 132 percent increase in electricity generation from gas in 2025 compared to 2022,\u201d the study explains. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis increased dependence will account for 13% of the total in 2025, meaning that the sensitivity to gas prices has also increased by 87%.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Poland, for every \u20ac1 increase in gas prices, electricity prices increase by \u20ac0.36 per MWh. <\/p>\n
Hungary was also more sensitive to gasoline prices in 2022, rising by 22% year-on-year. Hungary is undergoing a solar power boom, but a lack of grid-connected capacity means it still has to rely on gas power generation to maintain stability.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Ranked #countries #cleanest #energy #mix #save #bill<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EU countries with the cleanest energy mix will help cushion the rise in oil and gas prices, as the war with Iran highlights the true costs of fossil fuel dependence. advertisement advertisement Within two days of the strike in the Middle East, Dutch TTF (benchmark pan-European wholesale gas prices) prices soared 68% to \u20ac52.8 per … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2061,903,2059,2058,518,1684,1163,2056,2060,2057,1165,532,1365],"class_list":["post-858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bill","tag-clean-energy","tag-cleanest","tag-countries","tag-energy","tag-fossil-fuel","tag-iran-is","tag-liquefied-natural-gas","tag-mix","tag-ranked","tag-renewable-energy","tag-save","tag-solar-power"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hyokal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}