Whilst food inflation remains high across Europe, energy bills in Belgium have been bouncing up and down this past year. From the scary highs of winter when a single invoice could bankrupt a business and the government had to step in to limit the damage, many households were pleasantly surprised to receive significant sums paid back early in 2023, having overpaid on monthly instalments and then obsessing about keeping down their energy usage.
The result was a marked reduction in energy consumption, though the downturn in economic activity that resulted for businesses hurt dearly. Yet at the household level, the rollercoaster continues with many already receiving notifications from their providers that their monthly payments can be revised down.
In some cases it is the second time this year that energy payments have been cut – cause for celebration certainly but also indicative of an unstable energy market prone to geopolitical shakes and with many EU nations sacrificing dependable sources. Caught between sentimental (and dated) concerns regarding nuclear, the climate aspirations of a continent not yet ready to unhook itself from fossil fuels, and the present pressures, energy companies have been shoring up reserves – and siphoning off profits in doing so.
In an effort to avoid the extremes of this erratic ride, individuals have rightly seen that energy sobriety is the best course of action. This initiative has even had the result that a windy day can see turbines disconnected in order not to overload a grid with surplus electricity.
To mitigate this rather counter-intuitive measure, Belgium's energy minister has expressed the need to create battery banks to store excess electricity. Yet numerous engineers point out the major raw material cost of batteries and question their efficiency. Another solution is using electricity overflow to produce hydrogen through electrolysis – not a bad idea given that Belgium hope of becoming a hub for green hydrogen.
But until the practicalities of storing energy have been settled, forecasting energy costs will remain an inexact art.
Have your bills dropped dramatically? Let @Orlando_tbt know.
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