MADRID, 29 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The average price of electricity in the wholesale market will rise 27.67% this Monday compared to this Sunday and will again exceed the level of 200 euros megawatt hour (MWh) after nine consecutive days below this threshold.

Specifically, the price of electricity will be 206.62 euros/MWh this Monday, almost 45 euros more expensive than this Sunday’s price, 161.84 euros, according to data published by the Iberian Energy Market Operator ( OMIE) and collected by Europa Press.

Thus, the maximum electricity price for tomorrow will be registered between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with 250.20 euros/MWh, while the minimum for the day, of 169 euros/MWh, will take place between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. hours.

Compared to a year ago, the average price of electricity for this Monday will be 187.25% more expensive than the 71.93 euros/MWh of May 30, 2021.

The prices of the ‘pool’ have a direct impact on the regulated rate –the so-called PVPC–, to which almost 11 million households in the country are covered, and serve as a reference for the other 17 million who have contracted their supply in the free market.

In fact, the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has verified that in 2021, in the framework of the upward spiral of energy, around 1.25 million people switched from the PVPC to a rate in the free market at a fixed price.

On May 14, the Official State Gazette (BOE) published the Royal Decree-Law establishing the mechanism to limit the price of gas for electricity generation to an average of 48.8 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh ) for a period of twelve months, thus covering the next winter, a period in which energy prices are more expensive.

However, the mechanism, despite its publication as a Royal Decree-Law, is pending a formal decision from Brussels and to be initialed by an order from the minister for its application.

The Government limits in its calculations to 15.3% the reduction to the average electricity consumer covered by the PVPC regulated rate during the 12 months of application of the approved cap on the generation of electricity from natural gas, according to the report of impact that accompanies the decree law and to which Europa Press has had access.

For the industrial consumer, totally exposed to the spot price, the Government estimates a reduction in the invoice of between 18% and 20%, the first month of the mechanism oscillating between 15% and 17%, and between 13% and 15% in the latter.

Despite this, the Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, admitted on Monday that there is some “uncertainty” in calculating the exact reduction in the price of electricity once the cap on gas to generate electricity comes into force. , but maintains that the Executive’s forecast is that it will fluctuate between 15% and 20%.

Within the framework of the gas cap, a measure that both Spain and Portugal have adopted, Spanish consumers could assume around 600 million euros more in cost than Portuguese due to the application of this mechanism, according to sector estimates provided to Europa Press .

This is due to the fact that the extensions of electricity term contracts in Spain are not exempt from paying the cost of the adjustment for the gas cap, unlike in Portugal, which does not include these extensions in its decree, although it could suffer nuances a posteriori, clarify the sources of the sector.