The price of electricity breaks another historical record and soars in the electricity wholesale market to 360 euros / MWh
The wholesale electricity market is going to pulverize a new historical maximum this Wednesday, standing at 360.02 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), dragged down by the stratospheric rise in natural gas, in a context of growing concern about the supplies of this raw material from Russia to the EU.
The lack of electrical control worsens: the markets are betting that the prices of 2022 double those of 2021
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It is the first time that the so-called pool has exceeded the barrier of 360 euros / MWh and seven consecutive days have already been above the level of 300 euros, which the so-called pool exceeded for the first time last Thursday. However, the prices registered by the Spanish market are lower than those registered by other large European markets: almost 453 euros in France or 416 euros in Germany.
This Wednesday, the most expensive hours will be 19 and 20 in the afternoon, with a new historical hourly maximum of 380 euros / MWh, and the cheapest, 24 hours, with 331.4 euros / MWh.
The prices of the 'pool' have a direct impact on the regulated tariff (the so-called PVPC), to which almost 11 million consumers in the country are welcomed, and serves as a reference for the other 17 million that have contracted their supply in the free market .
With gas warehouses in Europe already below 60% (in Spain they are at 68%), the European energy crisis worsens, in a context of growing tension between Russia and the West. And already in winter, the fall in gas shipments from Russia, the main supplier of the EU, has caused the price of this raw material to skyrocket this Tuesday by more than 10%. The European reference TTF is already above 160 euros / MWh, compared to 17 euros a year ago and 65 euros at the beginning of November.
Added to the situation in the gas market are the problems of several nuclear reactors in France, which are added to the rise in CO2 emission rights. These also affect the cost of producing with gas and are close to 80 euros per ton.
After a few weeks of relative truce in the electricity wholesale market, the new escalation that began last week led the Government to confirm the extension of the tax reductions of the bill that expired at the end of the month and will be extended until April. The Executive maintains that the word that the household bill ends in 2021 at levels similar to those of 2018 will be fulfilled, discounting inflation. However, the Government admits that it is an "average" and there will be households that will pay more: those benefiting from the PVPC, which has traditionally been the most competitive.
