Europe's benchmark price for power jumps to new high as Russia cuts off gas supplies while the EU sanctions Moscow

The benchmark price for power in Europe reached the highest level of 2022, as the European Union sanctions Russian coal while Moscow cuts off natural gas supplies.

The price of German power for next year rose as much as 2.5% to the highest price ever for the 2023 contract on the EEX-exchange.

Russia has been cutting off supplies to customers that refuse to use the Russian currency.

On Tuesday, the Dutch said they wouldn't pay in Moscow's native currency and that led to the valve being shut off. The Kremlin has cut off supplies to several countries.

Russian coal, a key source of power generation, is going to be banned by the EU in August.

Europe is trying to grow energy supplies to make up for a potentially stark winter as the energy crisis gets worse. The EU's energy storage levels are at a high, which is a 42% full.

Russia's energy sector has been under pressure since the invasion of Ukraine. The EU said Tuesday that it would end imports of Russian crude by the end of the year, after the US banned it.