Multiple countries in Europe and the United States are also experiencing a widespread electricity shortage. What factors have triggered this global energy crisis? How will countries get through this winter?

Electricity demand in EU countries recovered to pre-pandemic levels in the first half of 2021. Source: Screenshot from Ember’s official website. Jiang Tieying, Deputy Director of the Institute of Liao Wang Think Tank at Xinhua News Agency, believes that soaring electricity prices stem from surging underlying energy demand coupled with insufficient effective supply. As COVID-19 vaccines became widely administered, global pandemic control achieved phased progress, and economies gradually rebounded—leading to a marked increase in basic energy consumption. Yet energy supply failed to keep pace with demand due to rising energy input costs (e.g., natural gas and coal prices), resulting in supply falling short of demand. Power shortages in Europe and the U.S. are also linked to their electricity-generation energy mix. Cao Yuanzheng, Chairman of BOC International Research Co., Ltd. and Senior Researcher at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, told Beijing News that current energy storage technologies remain inadequate; power systems still retain their inherent characteristic of immediate generation and consumption. Since renewable energy sources cannot supply electricity around the clock, other forms of generation must fill the gaps to ensure stable power supply. Cao pointed out that Europe’s electricity shortages are tied to its energy structure. Although clean-energy generation share in Europe has continued rising, abnormal weather—including droughts—has reduced wind and hydroelectric output. To bridge the shortfall, demand for thermal power surged. However, as Europe remains in the painful transition phase toward clean energy, thermal units reserved for emergency peak-load regulation face operational constraints, preventing rapid ramp-up of thermal generation—and thus causing electricity supply gaps. In 2020, renewables accounted for 38% of Europe’s electricity generation—surpassing fossil fuels’ 37%. Source: Screenshot from Ember’s official website. According to the European Commission’s official website, in 2019 Europe’s electricity came primarily from fossil fuels—including oil and natural gas (39%), renewables (35%), and nuclear power (26%). By 2020, per research by the think tank Ember, renewables’ share rose to 38%, becoming the EU’s largest electricity source for the first time. Wachfield, UK, September 24, 2021: Wind turbines operating. Photo/IC photo The Economist reported that wind power accounts for roughly one-tenth of Europe’s energy mix, while in countries like the UK, that proportion is about double. Recently, however, abnormal weather has constrained wind-power generation capacity across Europe—for instance, Germany’s wind generation during the first two weeks of September was 50% below its five-year average. In the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) website, electricity supply mainly comes from fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal), nuclear power, and renewables (solar, wind, etc.), with natural gas accounting for 34% and renewables for 12%. Bloomberg reported that as the U.S. enters the heating season, power plants’ natural gas demand has hit a record high—while natural gas production has declined for the second consecutive year. Against the backdrop of the energy transition, it remains to be seen whether U.S. power plants will shift toward greater use of oil and coal this year to secure electricity supply. U.S. primary electricity energy consumption structure. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Jiang Tieying noted that the mismatch—caused by overly rapid phaseout of conventional energy sources and lagging deployment of new energy—is another key reason behind the global shortage of basic energy and skyrocketing prices. To tackle climate change, major economies worldwide have adopted reducing coal-fired power and other conventional energy production and usage—and expanding green energy—as central policy levers. Yet reality shows that, as conventional energy capacity steadily shrinks, green energy—whether in terms of critical technological breakthroughs or production scale—has yet to mature sufficiently to fully offset the supply gap left by declining conventional energy.

Heatwaves strike! Electricity prices in Germany and the UK surge to their highest since 2022; the UK issues a rare ‘summer blackout’ alert.

Europe’s power system is under strain from the current heatwave: high temperatures significantly boost cooling-related electricity demand while simultaneously constraining actual output from certain generation facilities—triggering sharp electricity price volatility. On June 24, citing EPEX Spot data, Bloomberg reported that average electricity prices in Germany and the UK this month are expected to reach their highest levels since the 2022 energy crisis. France’s average June price is likewise projected to hit a new high since 2023. Notably, evening-time price premiums in France and Germany have widened markedly—primarily driven by a confluence of surging air-conditioning load and the diurnal decline in photovoltaic (PV) generation. According to EPEX Spot data, Germany’s spot electricity price is expected to climb to €665.82 per megawatt-hour at 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, while France’s price is forecast to reach €313.36 per megawatt-hour at 7 p.m. In the UK, signs of tightening electricity supply-demand balance are similarly emerging. The grid operator, National Energy System Operator (NESO), issued a rare summer electricity reserve warning, stating that a supply deficit of approximately 1.4 gigawatts may occur during Wednesday’s evening hours—and urging power generators to submit bids for additional available capacity. It should be noted that high electricity prices do not necessarily signal an outright supply crisis—but they clearly indicate mounting system stress at the margin. The heatwave’s dual impact: surging cooling load and weak wind resources High temperatures are affecting Europe’s power market structure from both demand and supply sides. On the demand side, residential and commercial cooling loads have risen sharply, pushing up electricity consumption. On the supply side, high-pressure weather systems suppress wind speeds—keeping wind generation persistently low across core markets such as Germany and France. Price pressure concentrates in the evening hours. During daytime, PV generation can partially alleviate supply pressure—but after sunset, solar output rapidly drops to zero, while cooling demand remains elevated. Consequently, the system must rely on higher-marginal-cost fossil-fuel units for peak-load regulation—driving up real-time electricity prices.

Rare Call for More Electricity Supplies as Wind Power Drops Across Europe

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The UK's National Energy System Operator issued a rare morning notice for additional electricity supplies due to low wind power forecasts across Europe. While the shortfall was partially mitigated to 500MW, officials confirmed there is no risk of power cuts to customers.

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Rare Call for More Electricity Supplies as Wind Power Drops Across Europe

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