European markets break records for solar production in April

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Several major European markets broke their records for solar production on a day in April last week, according to analysis from AleaSoft Energy Forecasting.

The consultancy says the Portuguese market recorded 22 GWh on April 22, before the Spanish market reached 197 GWh a day later. On April 28, the German market totalled 397 GWh.

Last week also saw the Italian market register its second highest ever figure when it hit 144 GWh on April 22, second only to its record from two weeks prior.

Despite strong solar performances in some countries, AleaSoft found the weekly average electricity price increased across most analyzed markets during the fourth week of April.

Weekly average price increases were noted in the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, German, Nordic, Portuguese and Spanish markets, with the Italian market the only one to buck the trend.

For the second consecutive week, the Portuguese and Spanish markets had the lowest averages, at €36.20 ($41.02)/MWh and €37.63/MWh. The British market overtook the Italian market to have the highest average, reaching €93.48/MWh.

Continuing a trend from last week, AleaSoft found most analyzed markets recorded some negative hourly electricity prices.

Portugal and Spain hit their lowest minimum hourly prices in their history on April 27, with the Portuguese market price reaching -€5.00/MWh between 11:00 and 15:00 and the Spanish market price registering -€6.01/MWh from 15:00 to 16:00.

On the same day, from 13:00 to 14:00, the Belgian market reached the lowest hourly price of the week across all markets, at -€266.00/MWh, which was the lowest price in this market since June 2019.

AleaSoft says a decline in wind energy production led to higher weekly prices in most markets last week. During the first week of May, it is forecasting prices will fall across most analyzed markets, influenced by a drop in electricity demand and an increase in wind energy production.

Meanwhile, solar energy production is predicted to increase in Germany this week, but fall in Italy and Spain.

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