MADRID, 3 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The average price of electricity for regulated tariff customers linked to the wholesale market will drop this Monday, December 4, by 3.35% compared to this Sunday’s data, to 77.24 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) .
The maximum price, of 123.02 euros/MWh, will be recorded between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., while the minimum price, of 45.10 euros/MWh, will be reached between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., according to provisional data of the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) collected by Europa Press.
In these first four days of December the average price of the electricity pool has been 84.04 euros/MWh, which is well below the 220.76 euros/MWh at which the price of electricity was placed – adding the extra cost that the adjustment for the gas price cap meant for consumers – at the beginning of the same month last year.
Compensation to the gas companies would be added to the average price of the ‘pool’, which has to be paid by the consumers who are beneficiaries of the measure, the consumers of the regulated tariff (PVPC) or those who, despite being in the free market, They have an indexed rate, but it is once again at 0 euros/MWh, a situation that has been repeated since February 27.
The so-called ‘Iberian exception’ was extended until December 31, following the agreement reached by Spain and Portugal with the European Commission. Thus, it was extended for seven months, until the end of this year, and it was not excluded that it could be extended for longer if said framework was also increased.
Specifically, the agreement not only represented an extension of the Iberian exception that was already applied, but also implied some adjustments to accommodate it, such as the price reference, which until then had increased by five euros per month, and became softer. .
In the original agreement, the aforementioned reference price for gas had an average value of 48.8 euros/MWh: it was 40 euros/MWh for six months, rising 5 euros/MWh each month thereafter. It has increased by 1.1 euros/MWh since last April, ending at 65 euros/MWh.
Currently, the mechanism has not had any effect on the marginal matching processes in the wholesale markets since the end of February due to the drop in the price of natural gas below the thresholds set for its application, but, if necessary, the extension will allow maintaining a reasonable price, not so dependent on the evolution of natural gas.
