AleaSoft notes slight recovery in European electricity prices

Spanish consultancy AleaSoft Energy Forecasting says that electricity market prices were higher in the second week of April in almost all major European electricity markets, compared to the first week of the month.

Their analysis showed weekly average electricity price increases in the Belgian, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish markets. The United Kingdom’s N2EX market and the Nord Pool market of the Nordic countries were the only two to record decreases, down 16% and 40% week on week, respectively.

In most cases, the weekly average was below €50 ($53.20)/MWh. The only exceptions were the German and Italian markets, with averages of €51.87/MWh and €77.39/MWh.

The German market recorded the lowest hourly price across all markets, reaching -€60.07/MWh on April 14 between 14:00 (CEST) and 15:00, which represents the lowest figure recorded in the country since early July 2023.

The Iberian market registered the highest number of hours with negative prices, accumulating a total of 45 between April 8 and April 14. Its lowest value recorded was on April 14 between 15:00 and 17:00, at -€1.01/MWh.

AleaSoft said that during the second week of April, an increase in the average price of gas and CO2 emissions rights, as well as a decrease in wind energy production in almost all analyzed markets, had an upwards impact on European electricity market prices.

Electricity demand fell last week across most European electricity markets, AleaSoft added, noting that this was largely driven by an increase in temperature across all analyzed markets.

Solar energy production increased week on week during the second week of April in all major European electricity markets. The German market registered a 35% increase, reversing a decline from the week prior. The Iberian and French market both saw solar energy production increase by 28%, while the Italian market posted a 1.7% increase.

AleaSoft said the Portuguese market broke its historical records for solar photovoltaic energy production for the second week running. On April 13, it recorded 17 GWh.

AleaSoft said solar energy production is expected to decline in Italy, Spain and Germany this week. It said that during the third week of Apri, electricity prices will likely continue to increase in most analyzed electricity markets, due higher demand and lower solar energy production.