MADRID, 19 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The average price of electricity for regulated tariff customers linked to the wholesale market will plummet this Friday, October 20, by 65.9% compared to this Thursday, to 23.12 euros per megawatt hour (MWh).
By time slots, the maximum price, of 74.99 euros/MWh, will be registered between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., while the minimum price will be between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., with 1.64 euros/MWh, according to the provisional data from the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) collected by Europa Press.
In this way, the price of electricity will register its lowest level since mid-April, when it reached 21.77 euros/MWh. This decrease is driven by the arrival of storms to the Peninsula, which are thus leaving strong winds – giving greater prominence to wind power – and precipitation.
Thus, electricity will register a total of fourteen hours this Friday with prices below the level of 10 euros/MWh, while throughout the day there will be no hour in which it exceeds 100 euros/MWh.
So far in October, the electricity market average stands at 105.5 euros/MWh, compared to the 127.21 euros/MWh that the pool registered in the same month of 2022.
Compensation to the gas companies would be added to the average price of the ‘pool’, which has to be paid by the consumers who are beneficiaries of the measure, the consumers of the regulated tariff (PVPC) or those who, despite being in the free market, They have an indexed rate, but it is once again at 0 euros/MWh, a situation that has been repeated since February 27.
The so-called ‘Iberian exception’ was extended until December 31, following the agreement reached by Spain and Portugal with the European Commission. Thus, it was extended for seven months, until the end of this year, and it was not excluded that it could be extended for longer if said framework was also increased.
Specifically, the agreement not only represented an extension of the Iberian exception that was already applied, but also implied some adjustments to accommodate it, such as the price reference, which until then had increased by five euros per month, and became softer. .
In the original agreement, the aforementioned reference price for gas had an average value of 48.8 euros/MWh: it was 40 euros/MWh for six months, rising 5 euros/MWh each month thereafter. It has increased by 1.1 euros/MWh since last April, ending at 65 euros/MWh.
Currently, the mechanism has not had any effect on the marginal matching processes in the wholesale markets since the end of February due to the drop in the price of natural gas below the thresholds set for its application, but, if necessary, the extension will allow maintaining a reasonable price, not so dependent on the evolution of natural gas.
