Record Cold In Europe

So far, March have been an especially cold month. Over the last couple of weeks, Europeans have seen the coldest weather in years with temperatures dropping to 20-30 degrees Celsius across the northern countries.

The extreme cold is due to a strong high-pressure system sliding in from Siberia, dispersing dry, frigid air. The extreme weather has been given the suiting name, “The Beast from the East” and has caused widespread disruption across Europe.

Even the Arctis is now a warm escape for a northern Europe covered in snow. In fact, while we see the temperature dropping to an all-time low across the European countries, the Arctic has never been warmer. The situation is nothing short of unprecedented.

New record in Norway

As a result of the frigid weather, Norway has reached a new all-time low in temperatures, with 41,8 degrees Celsius in Folldal, a small village in central Norway. This is the lowest temperature in March that has ever been recorded in Europe.

And Folldal isn’t the only place experiencing the extreme cold.

Numerous places in Norway have seen record European low temperatures, competing with the record of Folldal. Temperatures in Moscow dropped to nearly 20 degrees Celsius on the first Sunday of the spring month, the coldest night this winter.

The mountainous Croatian regions have also been struggling these last weeks and volunteers have been trying to reach isolated, elderly, households to provide them with food, medicines and firewood supplies. Even Rome has been hit by the rare snow storm, leaving the usually buzzing central square empty.

Jump in European power prices

As a result of the extreme cold and the sudden strain on supplies, European electricity prices soared to the highest in almost a decade. Whenever the need for energy rises we tend to ask ourselves whether or not we need more fossil fuel to provide a steady stream of power.

But more fossil fuel might not be the solution.

Many argue that it’s not necessarily the supply of fuel, but the infrastructure around it that leads to blackouts. The smooth-running energy markets around the world are the ones that have best kept the cold at bay. During this current cold we have also seen that renewable energies like wind power are doing some of the lifting.

Suppliers of renewable energy have been able to keep the electricity prices down, especially with fixed priced contracts. Customers of the renewable energy supplier Agva Kraft could enjoy a low price of 3 cent per kWh on the first day of March, while others paid up to 30 cents in the same period.

When extreme weather sweeps the nation, it’s almost impossible to avoid a jump in electricity prices. But with a supplier that matches the lowest price on the market at all times, you can avoid unnecessary costs.

Efficient power exchange within EU

Norway still has volatile electricity prices that are likely to even out with more cables to the European market. To ensure that electricity flows optimally around Europe, the EU has created the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). The goal is to complete a single EU energy market for electricity and natural gas to secure an efficient power exchange through power lines between the different markets in Europe.

If Norway becomes part of this cooperation, there are several benefits to come out of it - for both in Norway and throughout the European market as a whole. Norway don’t face the same challenges that they do in the rest of Europe. Almost all of the Norwegian power production comes from hydropower. Unlike solar and wind power, huge water reservoirs can be used to regulate the power production according to the need in demand.

With an efficient power exchange in place, Norway can import cheap electricity from countries like Germany and Denmark. In return, Germany and Denmark can buy cheap electricity back from Norway when there’s no natural resources of sun or wind available.

And if this cold is a new trend for the future, a well-functioned power line across Europe will definitely come in handy.