"As a Frenchman, I pay close attention to the price of bakeries. At present, it has increased greatly, and many people are worried about it," European Central Bank President Lagarde said in a recent media interview. She stressed that as inflation continued to rise, the rise in energy prices attracted the most attention. "When people refuel at gas stations or buy heating oil for winter, they will involuntarily notice the price rise..."

Against the background of global energy supply and demand imbalance, the energy crisis perplexing Europe is becoming more and more intense, the prices of natural gas and electricity are rising, and the risk of power rationing and blackout continues to rise. At the same time, high inflation, mainly driven by energy prices, has a growing impact on enterprise production and residents' lives.

Analysts believe that the current energy crisis reflects the contradiction between the dependence of European economic sectors on fossil energy and the insufficient supply of renewable energy. Although the EU has proposed ambitious energy transformation and carbon neutral targets, the ability to build sustained and stable renewable energy supply is long and aspiring. The global supply chain obstacles caused by COVID-19 exacerbate the complexity of energy transformation, and drag the European economy to the process of green and sustainable development.

Since August this year, European natural gas prices have been running at a high level. According to the data of the Dutch natural gas trading center (TTF), the benchmark of European natural gas trading, the wholesale price of European natural gas in November was about six times that of the same period last year. Driven by gas prices, electricity prices in Europe soared, and electricity prices in Germany, France, Britain, Spain and other places were at historic highs.

The European Commission pointed out that the wholesale price of energy in Europe increased significantly, which was mainly driven by the surge in natural gas demand in the global market and the reduction of natural gas imports in Europe. In addition, the adverse climate conditions in 2021 make the supply gap of renewable energy such as wind power and solar energy larger, which exacerbates the shortage of energy supply in Europe. In addition, the rise in the price of carbon emission trading permits in the European emission trading system (ETS) has also pushed up energy prices.

As the most important alternative energy for the transition from fossil fuels to green energy, which can take into account energy consumption demand and carbon reduction, the demand for natural gas in Europe has increased, while 90% of the EU's natural gas depends on imports, most of which come from Russia. Therefore, geopolitical factors also play an important role in European energy prices. Influenced by American factors, the "beixi-2" natural gas pipeline project connecting Germany and Russia has so far been difficult to put into operation, making it even more difficult for Europe to supply natural gas this winter.

For European enterprises and people, the rise in energy prices is directly reflected in raw materials and consumer prices. Eurostat data show that inflation in the eurozone climbed to 4.1% in October, a 13 year high, of which the sharp year-on-year rise in energy prices of 23.5% is the main reason for pushing up inflation.

Analysts believe that because long-term supply contracts are usually provided at fixed prices, some small energy suppliers in Europe are often unable to pass on higher procurement costs to customers, and their viability is facing severe challenges, which largely depends on how cold Europe is in winter and how long energy prices rise.

Alexander McDonald, chief executive of the London energy Brokers Association, believes that some industries in the UK may face the risk of shutdown this winter due to high energy costs. For millions of domestic energy users in the UK, the crisis may herald the end of the era of cheap gas and electricity.

Facing the current energy crisis, European countries, on the one hand, place their hopes on the increase of external supply, including Russia, and on the other hand, have also taken some internal support measures. For example, the Spanish government calls for restrictions on energy prices and profits of power enterprises; France, Italy and other European countries have promised to provide relevant subsidies to low-income families.

However, fundamentally, the structural contradiction of energy supply in the process of green transformation is expected to continue to haunt Europe for a certain time. European Commission President von delaine said that the key to solving the energy crisis lies in "accelerating the transition to clean energy". Some analysts pointed out that the EU's energy transformation not only needs sufficient nuclear power, coal power and natural gas power stations as the supply guarantee in the transition stage, but also needs to establish a stable renewable energy supply capacity, but also needs to strengthen the construction of internal energy market. Each work is very difficult.