Key Takeaway: Energy crisis gold and silver in focus: European gas storage facilities are at only 70 percent, the TTF price is trading at around 72 Euro/MWh — a good 40 Euro more than before the Iran war. This repeats a historical pattern that benefits precious metals in the long term. As of September 2026.
The European Union is in the midst of the next energy crisis. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has called on member states to voluntarily reduce energy consumption — temperature limits in public buildings, switching off night lighting, intelligent tariffs. These instruments are familiar: they originate from the crisis summer of 2022.
European gas storage facilities are currently only around 70 percent full — about twelve percentage points below the previous year's level. The Dutch TTF reference price is trading at around 72 to 74 Euro per megawatt hour. Before the Iran war in February 2026, it was around 40 Euro lower. Analysts are already warning of spikes above 100 Euro per MWh in winter.
Three factors are driving the level simultaneously:
The EU Commission officially speaks of a "price and potential supply crisis".
Energy prices are the pacemaker for overall economic price development. Higher gas prices mean higher production costs in industry, more expensive heating costs for households, and rising prices in almost every supply chain.
The current figures: The PCE price index in the USA rose to 4.1 percent in May, with energy as the main driver. In Germany, household customers paid around 12.6 cents per kilowatt hour for gas in September 2026 — an increase of almost 40 percent compared to the previous year.
For central banks, this means an unresolved dilemma: lowering interest rates costs credibility regarding inflation. Keeping interest rates high costs growth. Both paths create uncertainty — and uncertainty is the classic breeding ground for precious metals.
Anyone who wants to understand how the current energy crisis affects gold and silver in the medium to long term should read history — not as a prophecy, but as a pattern.
The pattern is always the same: Precious metals react with a time delay because liquidity bottlenecks initially arise. Only when it becomes clear that a slump is structural does the monetary revaluation begin.
Gold is currently trading at around 4,286 US dollars per troy ounce (equivalent to around 3,760 Euro). This is a significant correction from the all-time highs of over 5,500 US dollars at the beginning of the year — triggered by liquidation sales after the Iran war.
This correction has created something interesting: Gold is cheaper than in the spring, but the fundamental drivers — inflation, geopolitics, energy crisis — are stronger than ever.
Silver follows the same pattern but has an additional structural argument: Industrial demand (solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics) already exceeds supply for the eighth consecutive time. An energy crisis that accelerates the energy transition could exacerbate this deficit.
In sudden crises, liquidity problems initially arise: investors have to liquidate positions and sell gold in the process. Only when it becomes clear that the crisis is permanent and structurally driving inflation does the revaluation of gold as purchasing power protection begin. Historically, this process took six to twelve months.
Silver has a dual character: it reacts like gold to inflation and uncertainty, but additionally benefits from industrial demand — especially from the energy transition. An energy crisis that accelerates the expansion of renewable energies could further exacerbate silver's structural demand deficit.
The EU Commission had originally set 90 percent as the target for autumn. This year, 80 percent is officially considered the threshold. With currently 70 percent, Europe is significantly below this — which increases the risk of supply bottlenecks and price spikes in winter.
This post is not investment advice. All price information represents snapshots and can change at any time. Purchases and sales of precious metals may involve price risks.
