Published today, ACER’s latest report on key developments in European gas wholesale markets (Q2 2025) examines key trends in prices, supply and storage during the early months of the gas summer season. The analysis supports policy discussions on enhancing secure and competitively priced gas in Europe.
What trends did ACER monitoring find?
- Gas wholesale prices and volatility: Average wholesale gas prices fell by over 20% compared to Q1 2025, following a high-price winter. Price volatility eased, but remained relatively high, while regional price differences widened.
- LNG imports: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose by more than a third year-on-year, supported by competitive hub prices, slack demand in Asia and expanded US liquefaction capacity.
- Pipeline imports: No major changes were observed, except for Russian supply to the EU, which dropped by 45% year-on-year following the expiry of transit contracts via Ukraine. Deliveries now reach the EU only through the TurkStream pipeline.
- Gas storage: Gas injections increased by 75 TWh year-on-year, helping to reduce the gap in storage levels compared to previous years. This follows a relatively tight end-of-winter, when stocks were lower than in 2023 and 2024.
Looking ahead
If current LNG inflows and storage injection levels continue, Europe is likely to enter winter with healthy reserves. Still, risks remain: extreme weather, disruptions to major supply sources or geopolitical instability could alter the trajectory. On the supply side, the expected expansion of global LNG production in late 2025 and 2026 may help ease pressure.
Read more.
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ACER monitoring reveals limited competition and untapped flexibility in EU retail energy markets
ACER has today published its 2025 retail energy country sheets for all 27 EU Member States and Norway. For the first time, both electricity and gas are covered. The country sheets complement ACER’s retail Monitoring Report (coming in November).
ACER has also updated its retail pricing dashboard, tracking monthly household energy prices across EU Member States and Norway from January 2019 to June 2025.
What is happening in retail markets?
Electricity market:
- Smart meter rollout is uneven, with 80% deployment in half of the EU, but still below 20% in 7 Member States.
- Despite an increased number of hours with low wholesale electricity prices (below €5/MWh) in 2024, 15 Member States still rely heavily on fixed or regulated contracts. This limits consumers’ exposure to real-time price signals and leaves demand-side flexibility untapped.
- In 21 Member States, prosumers account for between 1% and 10% of households, while Belgium (22%) and the Netherlands (30%) are in the lead.
- Electricity retail prices across Europe stabilised by June 2025, ending the decline observed since early spring. On an annual basis, EU household electricity prices rose by approximately 3%.
Gas market:
- 82% of household gas is used for space and water heating, stressing the role of energy efficiency and building renovation.
- A decline in gas demand has been recorded in 21 Member States since 2022, while biomethane production remains relatively low.
- Gas retail prices remained largely stable, with minor monthly changes. Retail offers rose by 7% compared to the same period last year.
