These are the times when it will be cheaper to iron and put the washing machine on this Monday in the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. According to data from the Iberian Electricity Market Operator (OMIE), the price maximum will be recorded between 7:00 and 8:00, when it will be 248.08 euros/MWhwhile the minimum will reach 160.32 euros/MWh between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
After this rise, the price of electricity almost triples the amount you marked during the third Monday of May of the previous year (76.82 euros), although it remains 5% below the figures for last February 24, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
So far this month, the average price of electricity has reached 188.59 euros/MWh, nearly 100 euros below the average registered during March (283.3 euros/MWh), the most expensive in history until the date, although almost double the price of 2021which was crowned the most burdensome year in the historical series with 111.4 euros/MWh.
Wholesale market prices have a direct impact on the regulated tariff or PVPC, to which more than 10 million consumers in Spain are covered, and serve as a reference for the other 19 million who contract their supply on the free market.
In this sense, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is causing tensions in the energy marketespecially in the case of gas, due to the risk that Russian imports to Europe will be slowed down by the sanctions imposed by the European Union.
The government has approved a national response plan Given the economic and social consequences of the situation in Ukraine, which includes the extension of the tax reduction on taxes levied on the electric bill until next June 30, and the extension of the electricity social bond to reach 1.9 million beneficiary households.
In addition, after receiving recognition by the European Council of the difficulty that Spain and Portugal have in coping with high energy prices due to their low level of interconnections with the rest of the continent, both countries have launched a mechanism that will limit the price of gas intended for electricity production for 12 months. This mechanism, which will cap the price of gas at an average of 48.8 euros/MWh for the duration of the measure, will allow the wholesale price of electricity to drop by 40% to 130 euros per megawatt hour (MWh) as of June , according to the calculations of the Executive.
As for the other European countries, in the United Kingdom the megawatt hour will be paid on Monday at an average of 121.66 pounds (about 143 euros), while in Germany it will do so at 211.58 euros; in France, at 218.9 euros; in Italy, at 237.89 euros; and in Portugalwhich shares a market with Spain, although sometimes prices are decoupled due to differences in production, at 194.65 euros.
