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Germany faces certain recession if faltering Russian gas supplies stop completely, an industry body warned on Tuesday, and Italy said it would consider offering financial backing to help companies refill gas storage to avoid a deeper crisis in winter.

In Baltic States, as well as countries like Finland, Sweden and Germany, electricity prices have increased by 50%, reaching €164.20/MWh in Latvia and €151.37/MWh in Estonia. In Lithuania the average electricity price reached €164.71/MWh, which is an increase by 41% when compared to April.

France’s nuclear reactors are currently operating at less than half their full capacity. This week, they have produced the least electricity at this time of year since at least 2008, according to data compiled by international media.

International media has reported that Europe has started to use gas reserves which were originally meant for the peak of the winter season due this year.

More than 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas has already accumulated in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities, and these volumes are growing. This development was reported by the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Telegram, as noted by Ukrainian media.

Czech electricity producer ČEZ Group said it had acquired full ownership of Skoda JS, a leading Czech nuclear energy firm, currently at risk of anti-Russian sanctions.

European Union countries are considering a one-year delay to the launch of a new European carbon market for buildings and transport, pushing back the start to 2027, as they seek a compromise on more ambitious climate policies, draft documents show.

The Dutch government is working towards the construction of two new nuclear power plants, according to a national energy system plan outlined recently.

Germany will back Gazprom Germania (the energy business abandoned by Russia’s Gazprom in April) with a loan of close to €10 billion to help bolster the security of Europe’s energy supplies.

In an about-turn, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, acknowledged that the EU’s electricity market “does not work anymore” and needs to be adapted to the “new realities of dominant renewables.”