Long-term contracts, together with domestic gas production, typically accounted for 80-90% of the European Union’s natural gas consumption before the 2022 crisis. In the past two years, that share has dropped to around 50%. If no new contracts are signed and existing ones are not renewed, the share of spot gas and flexible LNG in total EU gas supply could increase to around two-thirds by 2030, which could increase exposure to short-term price volatility.
This effectively sounds like a good argument for 24/7 style PPAs which include batteries, because this reduces exposure to the price of power on the spot market.
Given the trend towards higher volatility, the consequences of being on the wrong side a price spike seem greater, and being able to hedge against that sounds increasingly valuable.