At what time will electricity be more expensive and cheaper this Monday?

The average price of electricity in the wholesale market will remain close to 250 euros per megawatt/hour this Monday, according to provisional data published by the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) collected by Europa Press.

Specifically, the average price of electricity in the wholesale market will be 251.70 euros per megawatt/hour (MWh) this Monday, 3.81 euros (1.54%) more expensive than this Sunday.

In this way, the price of electricity continues to be far from the historical maximum registered on March 8, when it reached 544.98 euros/MWh within the framework of the upward spiral of natural gas due to the impact of the invasion of Ukraine.

By time slots, the maximum electricity price for this Sunday will be between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., with 295 euros/MWh, while the minimum, 214.8 euros/MWh, has been registered between 11:00 p.m. 00.00 hours.

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

Levels similar to before the invasion

Until this Sunday, the average price of the ‘pool’ accumulated four consecutive days of decreases and recovered levels similar to those registered before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Before that date, the maximum annual price was recorded on January 17, when the average price of the ‘pool’ stood at 244.67. However, it is also true that in February and before the invasion the price of electricity did not exceed 211 euros/MWh.

In this sense, the natural gas futures contracts traded on the Dutch TTF platform were quoted on Friday at 140.5 euros/MWh, although they have since moderated and have fallen to 134 euros. These figures are far and increasingly away from those of Monday of this week, when first thing in the morning the 345 euros were touched.

Along these lines, the day before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the price of gas in Spain was trading below 80 euros/MWh, while last Friday it was at 118 euros/MWh, according to data from the Iberian Gas Market ( Mibgas). In this way, the record for Friday represents a reduction of 18% compared to the price of the previous day (143.9 euros/MWh) and a cut of 45% compared to 214.36 euros/MWh on March 8 .

Compared to just a year ago, the pool price for this Sunday will be 793.30% higher than the 27.75 euros/MWh of March 13, 2021.

March aims to be the most expensive month

Despite the moderation of recent days, the average price of a megawatt per hour in the wholesale market so far in March stands at 358.45 euros, that is, almost 120 euros more than the average for December 2021, the most expensive month in history so far with 239 euros on average.

Electricity closed 2021 as the most expensive year in the historical series, with an average price of 111.93 euros/MWh due to the upward spiral registered in the pool in the second half. However, so far in 2022 the average price is around 227.64 euros, more than double that of the previous year.