This electricity bill For the average consumer under a regulated tariff or PVPC, February has become more expensive 33% compared to Januaryentered the market with the lowest price in nearly two years due to the rise in the wholesale market. lower renewable share.
For a typical consumer in the regulated market, using the National Markets and Competition Commission’s (CNMC) electricity bill simulator, with contracted power of 4.4 kilowatts and a monthly consumption of 250 kilowatt-hours (KWh) distributed over different periods (peak), flat and valley ), the February bill rose to 65 euros.
This value 33% higher than the average January billAt 48.6 euros, it was the lowest level in almost two years since February 2021, thanks to the high renewable energy production recorded in the first weeks of the year and the correspondingly falling natural gas demand.
Despite this increase, February revenue was 31% lower than in the same month of the previous year, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, with an average price of 93.6 euros.
Almost half of the March 2022 record
In this sense, electricity bill continues with downward trend It started last October, after reaching the historic maximum – 123 euros – in March due to the outbreak of war in the previous days.
Specifically, the February bill 47% lower than the record recorded in March and 29% cheaper than the average of 91.4 euros, which closed the entire war year 2022.
In addition to the lower prices recorded in the wholesale market in the last quarter of the year, this decline was also affected by the successive VAT reductions approved by the Government, currently at 5% in June 2021. 21% normal.
Wholesale market dominated by renewable energy
Behind the price increase to pay for your electricity bill households covered by the regulated market Mainly, there are price increases recorded in the wholesale market, which closed the month of February with an average price of twice as much as the previous month.
Thus, an average price of 132 Euros per megawatt hour (MWh) was recorded in February; this is 86% more than 70 euros in January, when electricity reached the lowest level since May 2021 due to high renewable energy participation.
However, although renewable energy production was above the historical average in February, it decreased compared to the previous month, more gas combined cycle plant entry into the national mix. Combined cycles normally command the highest prices in the wholesale market.
Thus, while renewable energy production accounted for 45% of the peninsula’s electricity generation in February, this rate reached 56.6% in January.
In terms of technology, wind energy contributed 32.2% of electricity generation in Spain in January, while it increased to 21.3% in February. On the other hand, combined cycles increased its participation from 9.7% in January to 18.9% in February.