The original title: "sad" this cold winter in Europe, natural gas and electricity prices hit record highs frequently.

Source: Zhitong Finance and Economics Network

Demand for natural gas is rising as companies reopen and people return to offices, while gas shortages are pushing up the cost of power generation from the UK to Germany. Higher prices have fuelled inflation and could hamper economic recovery as energy-intensive industries from fertiliser to steel may need to rein in production.

Although it is still summer, and summer demand is usually low, prices are still rising as the market prepares for a difficult winter. At the same time, utilities are raising consumer prices, and everything from food to transportation is rising.

European benchmark natural gas futures traded in the Netherlands surged to record levels on Monday, as did prices in the UK, Zhitong Finance learned. Short-term power generation in the UK also climbed to an all-time high, while contracts in Germany, Europe's largest electricity market, climbed to record levels in the coming year.

Hot weather and low winds are curbing the production of renewable energy, helping to boost the use of fossil fuel power generation and pushing up coal prices in Europe by more than 70% this year. All this has pushed the cost of pollution in Europe to an all-time high.

After the severe winter, there are few natural gas stocks left in Europe, and Europe is now facing a natural gas crisis. It is not easy to build up natural gas inventories. Russia, the main supplier, is in short supply at a time when Asia is snapping up liquefied natural gas that could have been shipped to Europe.

Europe cannot count on its own oil production, and oil supplies in the North Sea have been disrupted many times. Production is naturally falling, and the large Groningen gas field in the Netherlands may be closed three years ahead of schedule. It is rare that natural gas prices are so high that their trading prices exceed the price of crude oil.

Soaring energy prices have pushed German inflation to its highest level since 2008. Prices rose 3.4% in august, above the ECB's 2% target for the euro zone. If the cold wave of 2018 returns, things could get worse.

Energy executives from Italian utility giant Enel SpA and Austrian oil and gas giant OMV AG have warned that the coming winter will be tough. Gas and electricity prices in Europe are likely to increase dual-fuel utility costs for European retail consumers by an average of 20 per cent, according to Citigroup Inc. From EDFCompanies such as EON SE and other British utilities have raised electricity prices.

Glenn Rickson, head of European power analysis at Standard & Poor's Global Platts Energy Consulting in London, said that as higher wholesale prices increasingly affect retail tariffs in the coming months, there may be increasing concern about the government's role in mitigating the impact of short-and medium-term price increases.

The British electricity market has even shown signs of tension, and winter has not yet arrived. Natural gas prices reached innovative levels on Monday as the wind was weak and the delayed return of the two nuclear reactors meant fewer spare supplies. Although the British National GridThe company assured the market that the current situation was manageable, but admitted that the reserve supply buffer this winter would be smaller than last year.

Higher natural gas prices have made it more advantageous to generate electricity from coal, pushing up the cost of carbon permits. "if the price of natural gas falls, the lignite plants will go bankrupt and the people who own the charcoal will want to sell them," said Louis Redshaw, director of Redshaw Advisors Ltd.