The electricity price has barely dropped despite the sunny summer weather. The warm late summer weather also brought low wind speed. The price is expected to rise further as revenues from renewable sources continue to decline and gas prices appear to rise.
The electricity price moved this week in the pattern of August and September. On Monday, September 4, electricity traded for €107,28 per megawatt hour. Until Friday September 9, the electricity price fluctuated between €100 and €108. Due to lower demand from the industry, the price fell over the weekend. On Sunday September 10, the electricity price reached the lowest point of the week, €85,43. On Monday, September 11, electricity was considerably more expensive, with electricity trading for €148,19 that day.
Unlike the rest of the summer, the warm weather does not result in lower electricity prices. Due to the nice weather, solar panels did a lot of work last week. In total, 32,7% of all electricity was generated by solar collectors last week. However, a disadvantage of the warm weather is that the wind has dropped considerably, causing the contributions from wind turbines to fall to 4%. Due to lower yields from renewable sources, no less than 46,7% of the electricity grid was dependent on gas-fired power stations.
The fact that the price did not rise further last week is due to relatively favorable gas prices. Gas prices were under pressure for most of the week and for the first time since early August, gas traded below €35. It is expected that the electricity price will be considerably higher next week. Less sun is expected next week due to rainy weather. In addition, the wind force also appears to remain limited.
Strikes are emerging
On top of that, the price of gas is likely to rise as demand increases. Once again, the threat of strikes on the Australian gas market appears to be causing considerable tension. Last week, gas prices fell after strike threats at Australian company Chevron, which supplies 5% of the world's gas supply, began to look more and more like a paper tiger. On Wednesday, the gas price even dropped to €31.
The optimism quickly turned out to be misplaced. After Wednesday, September 6, the threat of strikes seemed to increase again and the unions soon took action. On Friday September 9, the Australian trade union decided to call off the strike. Immediately after the union declared strikes, the first fifty employees left the oil rigs. The price of gas has been on the rise again since the news came out. On Monday, the gas price rose at several times to around €37, an increase of 19,4%.