Analysis from AleaSoft Energy Forecasting found electricity prices in all the main European electricity markets increased on a weekly basis during the fourth week of April.
The consultancy said the price increases were driven by a fall in wind energy production in most analyzed markets, alongside higher demand in some cases.
The Portuguese, Spanish and France markets saw the largest increases, of 419%, 402% and 181% respectively. The smallest increases were recorded in the Italian and German markets, at 12% and 9.3%, with increases also recorded in the Belgian, British, Dutch and Nordic markets.
Despite the large percentage increases, the Portuguese and Spanish markets still had the lowest weekly price averages, standing at €25.16 ($26.84)/MWh and €25.57/MWh respectively. Portugal’s result represents its twelfth consecutive week with the lowest figure.
The other seven markets all recorded averages above €60/MWh, with the highest weekly averages recorded in the Italian and British markets, at prices of €102.58/MWh and €86.36/MWh.
All the main electricity markets in Europe bar the British, Italian and Nordic markets recorded negative electricity prices on at least one day during last week. The Spanish market recorded negative electricity prices on three days (April 22, April 23, and April 28) and the Portuguese market recorded negative electricity prices on two days (April 22 and April 28).
The German, Belgian, French and Dutch markets reached the lowest hourly price, at -€65.06/MWh, on the afternoon of April 28.
In the first week of May, AleaSoft expects prices in most electricity markets to fall, due to declining demand and increasing wind energy production, but prices are forecast to continue increasing in Portugal and Spain.
Solar energy production increased by 35% in Germany during the fourth week of April, reversing a downturn in the previous week, and by 0.6% in Spain, where the fourth consecutive increase was reported. A decrease of 22% was registered in France.
Portugal and Spain both broke their historical record for daily solar production last week. Portugal reached the milestone on April 23, generating 18 GWh, while Spain generated 174 GWh on April 24, which AleaSoft says is the highest value in history.
Next week, the consultancy predicts solar energy production will decrease in Spain and Italy, but continue to increase in Germany.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
1 comment
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.