The price of electricity in the wholesale market continues to rise. The new heat wave that Spain is going through will be felt in the pocket. Specifically, the average price of electricity for regulated rate customers linked to the wholesale market will rise by almost 3% this Tuesday, reaching 120.67 euros megawatt hour (MWh), according to forecasts by the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE). ) ) .
Tomorrow’s price is the highest in the last two months and has four days of consecutive rises. You have to go back until June 22 to find a higher record. That day I hit 125.45 euros/MWh. However, to put things in perspective, it should be noted that the average for the electricity market so far in August stands at 92.38 euros/MWh, compared to 264 euros/MWh in the same period of time of August 2022 (the most expensive month ever). For its part, the average price so far this year is 89 euros/MWh, less than half compared to the 225 euros/MWh of the previous year.
It must be taken into account that to calculate the amount for last year, the market price and the compensation adjustment for the ‘Iberian exception’, inactive since February 27, must be added. The colloquially called ‘gas cap’, which was established in its day to try to contain the price of electricity, continues without due due to the fact that the price on the Iberian Gas Market (Mibgas) continues below 60.6 euros/MWh, the limit set by the Government for August.
The mechanism will be lost in force until December 31, after the agreement reached by Spain and Portugal with the European Commission. In addition, it has not been ruled out that it could last longer. In this way, and if necessary, the extension makes it possible to maintain a reasonable price for electricity if the Mibgas price spikes again.
The latest increases in Mibgas have been due to the contagion effect of the TTF, the benchmark natural gas price in Europe, which again exceeded 40 euros/MWh at the beginning of the month for the first time since June due to the possibility of a strike of workers at two natural gas fields in Australia. The market was thus stirred by possible interruptions in the supply and the reference futures shot up to 40%, the biggest rise since March 2022.
