According to AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, in the fourth week of May, prices in most major European electricity markets increased between Monday, May 20, and Friday, May 24. Although prices fell over the weekend, the weekly averages of all analyzed markets rose compared to the previous week. The Nord Pool market of the Nordic countries reached the highest percentage price increase, 87%.
In contrast, the IPEX market of Italy and the N2EX market of the United Kingdom registered the smallest percentage increases, 0.1% and 9.7%, respectively. In the rest of the markets analyzed at AleaSoft Energy Forecasting, prices rose between 30% in the EPEX SPOT market of Belgium and 71% in the MIBEL market of Portugal.
In the fourth week of May, weekly averages exceeded €45/MWh in most analyzed European electricity markets. The exceptions were the Nordic and French markets, with averages of €24.59/MWh and €36.50/MWh, respectively. The Italian market registered the highest weekly average, €96.18/MWh. In the rest of analyzed markets, prices ranged from €46.40/MWh in the Spanish market to €89.78/MWh in the British market.
Regarding hourly prices, most analyzed European markets registered negative prices on Sunday, May 26. The exceptions were the British and Italian markets, with no negative prices in the fourth week of May. The German, Belgian and Dutch markets also reached negative prices on May 20 and the last two markets, on May 22. In the case of the Nordic market, there were negative prices on May 25 and 26.
On Sunday, May 26, from 14:00 to 15:00, the German, Belgian, French and Dutch markets reached prices below €23/MWh. The Dutch market registered the lowest hourly price of the fourth week of May, €23.89/MWh.
On the other hand, on Monday, May 27, from 20:00 to 21:00, the German market reached a price of €221.46/MWh, the highest price since early December 2023 in this market.
During the week of May 20, the rise in the average price of gas and CO2 emission allowances had an upward influence on European electricity market prices. In addition, in markets such as Germany, Spain or Portugal, wind energy production decreased in the fourth week of May. In the case of the British, Italian and Dutch markets, electricity demand increased, contributing to weekly prices being higher than in the previous week, AleaSoft Energy Forecasting reports.