Should you be worried about Danish electricity prices going back up?

Electricity prices in Denmark on Thursday are expected to exceed 11 kroner per kilowatt hour including VAT and taxes.

The last time such price levels occurred was in 2022 during a period of soaring energy costs across Europe in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“We saw the same level on a small number of occasions during what we called the energy crisis in 2022. But it’s very unusual,” Mads Brøgger, director of energy company Norlys Energi, said to newswire Ritzau.

“The good thing is that we’re at this very high price level for a relatively short amount of time,” he added.

Prices are expected to peak between 5pm and 6pm on Thursday due to very low wind levels and resulting low energy production from wind farms.

“It’s dark, it’s cold, and we’re using a lot of energy. At the same time, there’s almost no wind anywhere in Europe,” Brøgger said.

READ ALSO: Can you save money in Denmark this winter with a variable rate electricity contract?

“Normally, sun and wind provide cheap, green energy. But when there’s low production and high demand, that’s when prices can run wild,” he said.

With no wind or sun to generate electricity, power plants must be activated, meaning consumption of oil, gas and coal. That means expensive fossil fuels begin to set the price paid by customers for electricity.

The Norlys Energi director said customers shouldn’t expect the soaring prices to persist.

“We don’t see this as the start of an energy crisis,” he said.

“Current forecasts suggest that it will be a relatively mild Christmas and winter period, where there is more wind in the system,” he said.

“That gives us hope that we’ll see falling prices in relation to the levels we’re seeing right now,” he said.

Consumers can take a number of steps to avoid the worst impacts on household finances of this week’s peaking prices.

“We must rediscover good saving habits from the time of the energy crisis, check prices on our apps and use electricity at outlying times of day,” Brøgger said.

READ ALSO: How a new app function can help cut your Danish electricity bill 

The Confederation of Danish Industry (Dansk Industri, DI) took a skeptical view of the high current prices.

“The electricity price will today hit one of the highest levels ever and that will have an impact on Danes’s wallets,” deputy director Troels Ranis told Ritzau.

“At the same time, Danish electricity taxes are among the highest in Europe – and are also higher than on any other form of energy, which is why bills will be higher than necessary,” he stated.

The organisation is calling for electricity taxes to be reduced “as soon as possible," Ranis said.