Spain sells almost 13.5% of its electricity production abroad with the lowest wholesale price

Spring brought with it more daylight hours per day, which was seen combined with increased wind, leading to greater renewable energy production. Concretely, in recent days the production of renewable energies has doubled on average the non-renewable production. This Monday, according to data from Electrical network, Around 61.2% of electricity production comes from green energies. France, Portugal or Morocco are the main buyers.

At the start of the week, wind power dominated electricity production with almost a 30%, followed by solar with more than 18%, hydraulics with about 8% and solar thermal with almost 4%. On the non-renewable side, the combined cycle – gas or diesel – stands out with more than 22%, nuclear with around 20% or cogeneration with just under 6%.

Spain sold 13.5% of its total production of 755 GWh. At the same time, 48% of this figure was exported to Portugal, 43% to France, 8% to Morocco and 1% to Andorra. The above data shows that, in addition to the increase in the production of clean energy, this increase in exports is closely linked to the fact that the Spanish wholesale market, compared to abroad, has experienced lower prices. .

For example, in the morning, in the band of 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Spain and Portugal were at €82.75/MWh, while France and Italy were at €163.14/MWh. Throughout the morning, prices moved from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Spanish wholesale market was the cheapest with €25/MWh, while in Portugal it was €86.09/MWh, in France €100.99/MWh and in Italy €134.53/MWh . Prices should continue to move and on Monday night- 20:00-21:00 hours– Spain and Portugal reach €125.12/MWh. In the French case, they would go to €142.78/MWh and in Italy to €205/MWh.

In addition to the significant increase in the production of green energy, it is worth noting the influence of the so-called “Iberian exception”. This measure agreed between the government of Pedro Sánchez and the European Union It involves the creation of a gas cap, ie a policy that limits the price of gas used for electricity generation in Spain and Portugal. This affects the price of electricity on the wholesale market – or pool– because it is one of the most relevant factors in determining the price of electricity.

During the first six months of its validity, the price of gas is capped at 40 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) and then increases by 5 euros per MWh per month until reaching a value of 70 euros per MWh in May 2023. This measure, it was planned to last until May this year, but with the extension of this policy until December 31, 2023, there will not be a monthly increase of 5 euros per MWh per month, but it will be 1.1 euros per MWh per month.