In the 1st quarter of this year North Pool Electricity prices continued to fall on the stock exchange. In April, the lowest monthly average price was reached – 23.52 Eur / MWh since North Pool launch of the stock exchange in 2013, according to the market data of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
A similar situation with the decrease in the stock exchange price was observed in the neighboring countries as well. In Lithuania, the stock exchange price in April was 23.31 Eur / MWh, while in Estonia – 23.69 Eur / MWh. At the end of the 1st quarter of this year, the exchange price for electricity consumers in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia was approximately 40% lower than at the end of the 1st quarter of 2019.
In the first quarter of this year, a wider range of users benefited from the reduction in stock exchange prices. Interest of household users in variable price contracts increased to 11.81%, while among legal users they already reached 41.86%. However, the most popular choice among household users was still the fixed price contracts chosen by 55.21% of households.
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According to PUC data, the weighted average electricity price for households decreased to 55.70 Eur / MWh in March this year, while for legal users to 43.95 Eur / MWh. Compared to March 2019, the price for households has decreased by 2.01%, but for legal users – by 3.45%.
The decrease in prices was mainly due to weather conditions and the decrease in electricity consumption. Warm, windy and rainy weather have made it possible to increase production capacity in hydropower and wind farms, thus increasing the supply of electricity.
“We see that even after the gradual easing of the restrictions related to COVID-19, the demand for electricity is still about 5% lower than last year. At the same time, the supply on the stock exchange is decreasing, as in the summer most of the annual maintenance and upkeep works of power plants are performed. Consequently, the prices on the stock exchange are currently very volatile, depending on how much production capacity is in maintenance at the same time, »says Jānis Negribs, Head of the PUC Market Surveillance Department.
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