After excluding 7 bids due to formal errors, the regulator selected 119 proposals with prices ranging between €7.24c/kWh and the maximum permissible value of €7.35c/kWh. The volume-weighted average reached €7.34c/kWh (+25% compared to the previous round).

Benchmark futures are now trading just above €50, near the lowest levels since September 2021.

LNG deliveries to Europe have helped ease an energy crisis this winter after Russian piped supply slumped.

Dutch front-month futures, the European benchmark, rose 4.3% to €72.50 a megawatt-hour at 8:55 a.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent contract was 7.1% higher.

Dutch front-month futures, the European gas benchmark traded 2% higher at to €66.30 per megawatt-hour by 12 p.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent contract also rose. German power for next month increased 2.3% to €166 per megawatt-hour.

Traders are on edge with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying any energy infrastructure in the world is at risk after the Nord Stream explosions, which he said benefited the US, Ukraine and Poland.

EU energy ministers gathering in Prague on Wednesday will consider that model, which has already been adopted by Spain and Portugal, allowing consumers to avoid the worst of the price surges.

Benchmark futures declined as much as 5.9%. Ministers supported measures including a power-demand reduction goal and a profit grab from energy companies, and said more was likely this week.

"On the price cap, there is nothing near a consensus," a diplomat from one EU country said.

The 27-nation bloc has already agreed on a voluntary target to cut gas consumption by 15% after Russia, its biggest supplier, cut shipments following the invasion of Ukraine. Still, more action is needed to contain the energy crunch that’s fueling inflation and risks recession.