Daily electricity prices have been at the lowest level since the beginning of this year in recent days. The daily average on the EPEX spot market remained well below €200 per MWh throughout the week and fell to its lowest point since January 3rd on Sunday, mainly thanks to strong winds and the weekend. With another daily record of wind energy produced.
On Sunday, February 6, the Netherlands achieved more than 150.000 MWh of wind energy for the first time. The day was also good for this, with continuous strong to stormy winds that even led to a code yellow warning for a few hours. Because it was also a Sunday and the temperature was mild for the time of year, the energy requirement was relatively low compared to a midweek day. As a result, the share of wind energy in Sunday's power mix was approximately 47%, energy specialist Martien Visser wrote on social media.
The relatively high temperatures, record wind production and the calm situation on the gas market - because Russia is supplying again and tankers carrying LNG liquefied gas regularly moor in the port of Rotterdam - have put pressure on electricity prices. For example, last Tuesday, February 1, the Epex spot price was at a daily average of €194,60 per MWh, while yesterday (Monday, February 7) this quote was €155,26 per MWh. On the stormy Sunday, the daily average was €121,11 per MWh, the lowest price since January 3 of this year.
Hourly prices low to negative
Due to onshore and certainly offshore wind energy, hourly prices on the EPEX spot fell sharply. On the night of Saturday or Sunday, this amounted to only €7,45 per MWh hour for an hour, and then rose again quickly when it became light. During the night from Sunday to Monday, the hourly price then dropped again to €10,08 per MWh. The price of electricity in Belgium was even negative for several hours during the night from Saturday to Sunday, reaching a level of -€30 per MWh, in other words: there was more supply than demand for electricity.
As long as tensions surrounding the conflict in Ukraine do not rise, the pressure on the electricity market appears to be off for a while. The weather forecast is that the wind will continue to contribute to electricity production in the coming days - albeit less than on Sunday - and the great uncertainty in the availability of sufficient gas has also been significantly alleviated in the short term by, among other things, the supply of LNG.