AleaSoft Energy Forecasting’s latest analysis finds most major European electricity markets experienced negative electricity prices last week, with Portugal and Spain recording their lowest hourly figures in history on March 30.
Most major European electricity markets recorded negative electricity prices during the fourth week of March, according to analysis by AleaSoft Energy Forecasting.
The Belgian, British and French markets recorded negative electricity prices on March 30, while the Dutch and German markets also registered negative prices on March 28. The Portuguese market recorded negative prices on three separate days last week, while the Spanish market saw negative prices across five consecutive days.
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According to AleaSoft, both the Portuguese and Spanish markets reached their lowest hourly prices in their history on March 30, with Spain recording -€5.21(-$5.74)/MWh between 14:00 and 15:00 and Portugal reaching -€4.00/MWh, between 11:00 and 12:00.
The influx of negative prices contributed to weekly average electricity prices below €95/MWh across most major European markets last week. The exception was the Italian market, where the weekly average reached €119.27/MWh. The Nordic market continued to have the lowest weekly average, at €24.96/MWh.
When compared to the week prior, AleaSoft noted an increase in the weekly average electricity price in the Belgian, Dutch, French and German markets and a decrease in the weekly average price across the British, Italian, Nordic, Portuguese and Spanish markets.
AleaSoft says a drop in weekly gas and CO2 emission allowance prices and a fall in electricity demand led to lower prices in some markets, while a fall in wind energy production contributed to a price increase in others.
The consultancy is predicting a mixed picture for the first week of April, with prices expected to fall in France and Germany but increase in Portugal and Spain.
The fourth week of March also saw solar energy production increase in Portugal and Spain, contributing to the electricity price decline in these markets. In contrast, solar energy production fell across France, Germany and Italy last week.
AleaSoft is predicting solar energy production will increase in Germany during the first week of April but decrease in Italy and Spain.
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