Weekly average electricity prices increased across the major European markets last week, according to analysis by AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, despite TTF gas futures prices reaching their lowest settlement since February.
The Spanish consultancy found the weekly average electricity price increased across the Belgian, British, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Nordic, Portuguese and Spanish markets when compared to the week prior.
Averages were above €95 ($111.70)/MWh in all analyzed markets except the Spanish, Portuguese and French markets, where averages reached €50.38/MWh, €50.73/MWh and €70.93/MWh.
These three markets each set all-time records for solar energy production on a day in April last week. Spain generated 213 GWh on April 17, the same day France reached 145 GWh and Portugal recorded 26 GWh.
The Italian market continued to record the highest weekly average, registering €123.19/MWh, followed by the German market, at €109.09/MWh. These two markets also saw less solar energy production last week than the week prior, contributing to the higher prices.
AleaSoft attributed the general upward trend in electricity prices to rising CO2 emission allowance prices, declining wind energy production and increasing electricity demand in most markets.
The consultancy noted this upward price trajectory despite lower TTF gas futures in the ICE market. AleaSoft says the failure of peace negotiations over the previous week contributed to the weekly high registered on April 13, of €46.41/MWh. Settlement prices then remained below €45/MWh for the rest of the week, influenced by expectations of new talks between the U.S. and Iran and the beginning of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon.
Higher temperatures, lower LNG imports in Asia and increased renewables production towards the end of the week also contributed to the falling gas prices, according to AleaSoft’s analysis. The consultancy registered a minimum settlement price of €38.77/MWh on April 17, which it says was 11% lower than the last session of the previous week and the lowest recorded since February 28.
AleaSoft’s price forecasts are expecting prices will decline in Europe's main electricity markets during the fourth week of April, driven by lower electricity demand and increased wind and solar energy production across most markets. Its analysis adds that gas price movements will also continue to influence price trends.
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.
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.