MADRID, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The average price of electricity for regulated rate customers linked to the wholesale market will fall 30.9% this Wednesday compared to this Tuesday, to 80.44 euros/MWh, according to provisional data from the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) collected by Europa Press.
This price is the result of adding the average of the auction in the wholesale market to the compensation that the demand will pay to the combined cycle plants for the application of the 'Iberian exception' to cap the price of gas for the generation of electricity.
In this way, the price of electricity for this Wednesday for consumers covered by the regulated rate, the so-called PVPC, will be the lowest since the Iberian exception came into force, in mid-June, and the cheapest since October last year.
In the auction, the average price of electricity in the wholesale market - the so-called 'pool' - stands for this Wednesday at 81.71 euros/MWh. The maximum price will be registered between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with 136.74 euros/MWh, while the minimum for the day, of 48.37 euros/MWh, will be between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
To this price of the 'pool' is added the compensation to the gas companies that has to be paid by the consumers who benefit from the measure, the consumers of the regulated rate (PVPC) or those who, despite being in the free market, have an indexed rate, which on this occasion for this Wednesday for the first time since the mechanism exists shows a negative balance with -1.27 euros/MWh.
Sources from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge indicated that this gas adjustment is negative due to the low price of gas in the market, which leaves the reference price for gas plants at 41.49 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), very close to the reference price of 40 euros/MWh of the Iberian mechanism.
Thus, when considering the income derived from the congestion rents of the interconnection with France, 50% of which is destined to defray the cost of the gas adjustment, this value is negative.
With the application of the Iberian mechanism, exceptionally, the congestion income -directed in principle to defray the costs of network construction to reduce congestion- that are generated during its application will be used to reduce the cost of adjustment to gas plants. In this way, in the event that at a given time the price of the interconnection is saturated in the export direction, the so-called 'market decoupling' occurs, that is, one price appears in Spain (lower) and another in France (more tall).
In these circumstances, a French retailer that buys energy in Spain through the interconnection will pay the French price (more expensive). Meanwhile, the Spanish plant will receive the Spanish price (lowest) and the difference between the two is the congestion rent, which will reduce the cost of the adjustment, the same sources explained.
4.6% LESS THAN WITHOUT APPLYING THE MEASURE
Specifically, if this mechanism were not applied to cap the price of gas for electricity generation, the price of electricity in Spain would be an average of 84.42 euros/MWh, which is almost four euros/MWh more than with compensation for regulated rate customers, who will thus pay 4.68% less on average.
The 'Iberian mechanism', which came into force on June 15, limits the price of gas for electricity generation to an average of 48.8 euros per MWh over a period of twelve months, thus covering the coming winter, a period in which which energy prices are more expensive.
Specifically, the 'Iberian exception' sets a path for natural gas for electricity generation at a price of 40 euros/MWh in the initial six months, and subsequently, a monthly increase of five euros/MWh until the end of the measure .
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has released to public information a proposal for a royal decree to reduce the volatility of the regulated rate, the so-called PVPC, in order to provide greater stability to a rate that has been particularly impacted due to the volatility of the electricity market in the last year, giving greater weight to references to futures markets, which will grow progressively to represent 55% in 2025.
The proposal proposes incorporating into the PVPC calculation formula -contracted by the holders of some nine million supply points, 35% of the country- a basket of medium and long-term prices to avoid strong fluctuations, without losing short-term price references that encourage savings and efficient consumption.
