Electricity will dismiss February with an average of 132 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) in the wholesale market, which means almost doubling the price of January , the month with the cheapest light since May 2021, due to the drop in production renewable.
According to the data collected, the February price is 86% higher than the 70 euros registered in January and even exceeds the price reached last November by more than 6%, the month in which wind energy recorded several records. of production.
However, it remains at levels far removed from those registered in mid-2022 as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine , which has caused an unprecedented energy crisis at a European level.
In this sense, the average for February is 57% lower compared to the 308.6 euros/MWh of August 2022, the most expensive month in history, and is 76% below the daily record high registered on March 8, two weeks after the war began, when 545 euros/MWh were reached.
Less renewable production
The increase in electricity in February is mainly due to the lower renewable energy production -wind and hydraulic- compared to the previous month, which has caused an increase in the use of combined gas cycles, the technology that normally sets the higher prices on the wholesale market.
In February, renewable production concentrated 45% of electricity generation , when a month ago this percentage reached 56.6%.
By technology, wind power has gone from 32.2% in January to 21.3% in February , while combined cycles have increased their share from 9.7% to 18.9%.
5% cheaper thanks to the cap
The application of the Iberian mechanism, which since June 15 limits the price of gas for electricity generation in Spain and Portugal until May 31 (although both countries are negotiating its extension with Brussels), has made it possible to contain the rise in the light.
This mechanism, which has not been applied for eight days because the gas price has fallen below the maximum price set by the Government (50 euros/MWh in February), has made electricity 5% cheaper.
Without the cap on gas, electricity would have closed February with an average of 139 euros/MWh, close to 7 euros more than the final price.
Compared to the rest of the main European economies, Germany has registered an average price slightly lower than that of Spain, something that has not been common in recent months, while both France and Italy continue at higher levels.
Thus, in Italy electricity has marked an average of 161 euros/MWh, ahead of France (149 euros/MWh) and Germany (128.3 euros/MWh).
