The average price of electricity for regulated rate customers linked to the wholesale market rose 3.59% this Monday compared to this Sunday, until the 271.06 euros per megawatt hour (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 the auction, the average price of electricity in the wholesale market –the so-called ‘pool’– stands at 176.58 euros/MWh for this Monday. The maximum price will be registered between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., with 250 euros/MWh, while the minimum for the day, of 125 euros/MWh, will be between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
To this ‘pool’ price is added the compensation of 94.48 euros/MWh 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.
34.5% less
In the absence of the ‘Iberian exception’ mechanism to limit the price of gas for the generation of electricity, the price of electricity in Spain would be on average around 414.34 euros/MWh, which is around 1€43/MWh more than with the compensation for clients of the regulated rate, who will thus pay 34.5% less on average.
The ‘Iberian mechanism’, which entered 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 the prices of energy 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 Third Vice President of the Government and Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, estimated this week that the Iberian exception has meant a saving of 1,383 million euros for Spanish consumers in its two months of validity.
Ribera indicated that this figure represents a saving of €22 million newspapers for Spanish society since the entry into force of the mechanism.