Dutch energy company Anode Energie insolvent due to high prices

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch energy company Anode Energy plans to file for bankruptcy, the company said on Wednesday, the third in the Netherlands this year to become insolvent due to high energy prices.

Director Eric van Teeffelen said that the company, which supplies around 14,000 retail customers, had been forced to make the decision after its energy supplier could no longer meet its obligations.

“We were forced to purchase on the spot market — hedged prices are no longer available — and the current prices are much higher, we can’t endure it,” he said.

Retail customers are guaranteed service under the country’s ‘security of supply’ rules and the Consumer and Markets Authority (ACM) will allocate them among remaining energy companies if they can’t find a new provider.

Around 150 commercial customers must find a new supplier.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling. Editing by Jane Merriman and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)