According to the European Commission’s quarterly energy market roundup, the largest falls in demand were observed in member states with the steepest gross domestic product (GDP) contractions and vice versa, with Cyprus, Romania and Poland bucking this trend.

Diminishing demand caused electricity costs to plummet, reaching 19.75 euro cents per kWh in Luxembourg, compared to 26.67 in Belgium, 29.83 in Germany and 19.82 in France.

Among network charges recorded in major cities, Luxembourg City had the second-highest charges along with Brussels (both at 8.7 cents per kWh), after Lisbon (9.75 cents per kWh). In these cities, network charges accounted for 40% of the total price and were measurably higher than the energy component charged to customers.

Gas prices

Luxembourg was among the EU countries with the lowest estimated household gas prices at 3.5 cents per kWh, after Hungary with 3, and Latvia and Romania both with 3.3 cents per kWh.

Lower consumption coupled with a rise in solar generation pushed renewables to make up 43% of the EU power mix, marking a new quarterly record, according to the latest figures. Coal generation fell 34% year-on-year, nuclear generation decreased 17%, as did gas generation.

This shift away from fossil fuels caused the carbon footprint of electricity generation in the EU27 to fall by 25% year-on-year in Q2 2020, meaning the sector is on target for a double-digit annual reduction in CO2 emissions in 2020.