Renewable sources again had a clear effect on the electricity market. Due to various disruptions to the gas network, the price on the natural gas futures market (TTF) rose again this week. Remarkably, the price of electricity fell this week.
The electricity price had clear downward peaks this week. On Tuesday, October 3, electricity was traded for €67,85 per megawatt hour. After that, the electricity price fluctuated considerably up and down. On Wednesday, October 5, the electricity price reached its highest point at €100,46. Over the weekend the price fell sharply to €49,54 on Sunday, October 7. On Monday, October 9, electricity traded for €93,23 per megawatt hour.
Production from renewable sources has a clear effect on the electricity price. In recent days the weather has fluctuated constantly between autumn weather and sultry late summer weather, which has resulted in considerable price pressure. Strong winds in particular contributed. Over the entire week, 36,5% of all electricity was generated by wind turbines. An additional 16,7% of solar power was added. For almost the entire week, both wind and solar energy provided a stable basis under a lower electricity price. On days when the electricity price is low, you see clear peaks in production. With the exception of Sunday. That day was marked by a clear peak in solar energy production and low demand from the business community due to closed offices and factories.
Gas prices are rising enormously
Due to the large production from renewable sources, only 25,4% of electricity was generated by gas-fired power stations. That turned out to be a crucial factor again this week. Last week, the biggest problems on the gas market seemed to have been resolved for the time being. Chevron and the Australian unions announced that a deal on employee benefits had been more or less completed, preventing pressure on the LNG market. Norway's gas supply was also about to recover.
However, on Thursday, October 5, peace was again hard to find. Between Friday October 5 and Monday October 9, the gas price rose from €36,21 to €42,05. The already fragile European gas supply suffered another blow. Finland and Estonia have discovered a hole in the Balticconnector pipeline. On average, the pipeline will export about 30 gig watt hours of gas from Finland to Estonia. According to the gas grid provider, it will probably take months until the work is completed.
Getting rid of promises
In addition, the Australian LNG soap opera, which has been gripping the gas market for months, still appears not to be over. Two weeks ago, Chevron and the Australian unions announced an agreement. This seemed to put an end to the strikes that threatened up to 7% of international LNG production. On Friday, November 6, the unions announced that they did not agree to the conditions and would continue the actions. The unions accuse Chevron that the oil and gas company is trying to get rid of several commitments when finalizing the deal.