Rising electricity prices in Europe

An analysis by AleaSoft Energy Forecasting shows that electricity prices rose on a weekly basis in most major European markets in the third week of April.

The Spanish consultancy firm recorded weekly average electricity price increases in the Belgian, British, French, Dutch, German, Italian and Nordic markets. The Nord Pool market, which includes the Nordic countries, recorded the largest percentage price increase of 111%, followed by a 72% increase in the Belgian market.

Exceptions were the Portuguese and Spanish markets, which recorded an average weekly fall in electricity prices of 29% and 33% respectively.

In the third week of April, the weekly average prices on most of the European markets surveyed were above € 50 ($ 53.20)/MWh. The highest weekly averages were recorded on the German and Italian markets at € 70.93/MWh and € 91.59/MWh respectively.

Exceptions were the Portuguese, Spanish and French markets with average values of €4.85/MWh, €5.09/MWh and €21.38/MWh respectively. Prices on the Portuguese and Spanish markets have now been at their lowest for 11 weeks in a row.

Although most electricity prices rose last week, all markets recorded negative prices with the exception of the Italian and Nordic markets. The Belgian market reached its lowest hourly price of -35.00 €/MWh on April 21 between 11:00 (CEST) and 12:00.

AleaSoft attributed the increase in average electricity prices on most markets to an increase in average gas prices and CO2 emission prices as well as increased electricity demand on most markets. The higher electricity demand coincided with falling average temperatures in most of the markets analyzed.

AleaSoft predicted that electricity prices could continue to rise in the fourth week of April due to higher electricity demand and a decline in wind energy production.

In the third week of April, AleaSoft recorded the third consecutive increase in solar energy production in the Spanish and French markets, up 10% and 1.5% respectively. At 154 GWh, the Spanish market recorded its highest figure so far in April on April 19.

On the German, Italian and Portuguese markets, solar energy production fell by 25 %, 9.2 % and 0.3 % respectively.  For the fourth week of April, AleaSoft said that solar power production could rise again in Germany but fall in Italy and Spain.