Why gas still rules power prices
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The price of natural gas has shot up around the world after the war began in Iran, but how is the gas price linked to electricity in some countries more so than others?
We’ll be looking at how gas still sets the power prices so often. We’ll also look at Ethiopia, to see if hydropower could be a solution for other places who want renewables to bring down the cost of bills.
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by Rick Kelsey
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
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(Picture: Gas flare at petroleum and natural gas offshore power plant. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:08.5 | This is Business Daily. Gas supplies around the world have tightened and become more expensive. |
| 0:14.6 | Attacks by Iran on gas and oil installations. |
| 0:18.0 | The price of gas in Europe is more than double the level seen before the |
| 0:21.6 | conflict began. The attack on the South Paz gas field in Iran. In so many places, the price of |
| 0:32.3 | electricity is set by the price of gas. We'll look at why and if it's possible to change it. |
| 0:39.1 | You need to think about, okay, if we have our own gas, then that means that we are importing |
| 0:45.9 | less from the rest of the world, which may to some extent shield us a little bit from |
| 0:51.8 | the external shocks. As gas becomes more expensive, the pressure |
| 0:55.6 | grows on some governments to look again at their own opportunities to produce more homegrown |
| 1:01.7 | power. The obvious way, the long term, but obvious way to get out of this dilemma is to sort of |
| 1:07.6 | get rid of the necessity to import these fossil fuels in this large degree, |
| 1:13.5 | in other words, to produce more electricity domestically, right? |
| 1:16.6 | Then we're not facing that kind of uncertainty and threats. |
| 1:20.6 | And we'll be in East Africa in a country that does not rely on gas |
| 1:24.8 | to have some of the cheapest electricity in the world. |
| 1:29.4 | And is this why you decided to start this business in Ethiopia just because of the access that gave you? |
| 1:35.5 | Because of electricity. |
| 1:36.7 | Yes, that's one of the main reasons that I chose Ethiopia. |
| 1:40.6 | This is Business Daily with Rick Kelsey on how the cost of power is so often driven by natural gas and how we might change it. |
| 1:53.0 | The effect on your bank balance from the war in the Middle East depends on where you live. |
| 1:59.0 | What we have learnt is the ability of one block stretch of water in the Middle East to push up energy and the price of transporting food and products around the world. |
... |
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