According to AleaSoft Energy forecasting, in the week of March 25, prices in most major European electricity markets decreased compared to the previous week. Weekly prices of France and Belgium in the EPEX SPOT market, €39.01/MWh and €53.32/MWh, respectively, were the lowest this year to date in each of these markets. In the case of the MIBEL market of Portugal and Spain and the EPEX SPOT market of the Netherlands, average prices for the week of March 25 were the second lowest this year, with values of €4.98/MWh, €5.30/MWh and €61.37/MWh.
Price declines ranged from 86% in the Portuguese market to 1.4% in the Nord Pool market of the Nordic market. On the other hand, in the IPEX market of Italy and the N2EX market of the United Kingdom prices rose, by 3.9% and 21% in each case.
In the last week of March, the Iberian MIBEL market prices were the lowest in the main European electricity markets for the eighth consecutive week. Daily prices in this market have been the lowest almost uninterruptedly since February 7, except for five days when the Nord Pool market occupied this position. The highest weekly prices were those of the Italian market, which usually registers the highest prices, this time at €91.04/MWh.
As for hourly prices, the Spanish market registered the first three hours with negative prices in history. On Monday, April 1, between 14:00 and 17:00, the price in this market was €0.01/MWh. Between March 26 and April 2, the MIBEL market registered 53 hours with zero or negative prices. Such low hourly values meant that the prices of March 28 and 27, €0.66/MWh and €0.75/MWh in each case, were the third and fourth lowest in the last decade, after the prices of March 10 and 9 of this year, €0.54/MWh and €0.59/MWh respectively.
Other European markets registered negative hourly prices between March 25 and April 2, although to a lesser extent than in the Iberian market. In the German, Belgian, French and Dutch markets, there were some hours with zero or negative prices on April 1 and 2. In the Dutch market, there was also an hour with a price of €0/MWh on March 28.
In the last week of March, the fall in demand in most markets, the increase in wind energy production in most of them and solar energy production in Germany favoured the fall in electricity market prices, even though gas prices remained similar to those of the previous week and CO2 prices increased. In contrast, the fall in solar energy production in Italy and the increase in demand in Great Britain led to higher prices in these markets.
AleaSoft Energy Forecasting’s price forecasts indicate that in the first week of April prices in most major European electricity markets will fall compared to the previous week helped by lower demand in several markets and higher renewable energy production in Germany, France and Italy. The exception will be the MIBEL market, which will recover from last week’s declines as a result of lower wind energy production, although weekly average prices will still be lower than the week before Easter, AleaSoft Energy forecasting reports.
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