Latvian electricity market overview

The average monthly price of electricity in August in Latvia reached triple digits for the first time since February, stopping at 102,49 EUR per megawatt hour (EUR/MWh), which is 22% more than in July, while compared to the record high in August 2022, this year the price is 356% lower.

Highlights in August:

• In August, 237 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity were transferred to the grid in Latvia, which is 61% more than in July and 10% less than a year ago;
• Significantly - the amount of electricity delivered by gas power plants increased by 637% or up to 89 GWh in August, thus balancing the price of electricity in the Baltics at a time when there was a pronounced capacity deficit in Finland and, therefore, limited opportunities to export electricity to the Baltics;
• Hydropower plants transferred 78 GWh of electricity to the network, which is 35% more than in July, wind power plants saw a drop of 36% to 15 GWh, solar power plants - a drop of 13% to 18 GWh, while biomass plants transferred 21 GWh of electricity to the network, which is 20% more than in July;
• Thus, in August, 43% of the electricity consumed in the country was produced and transferred to the network in Latvia, while the missing amount - 310 GWh of electricity was imported from neighboring countries;
• Electricity prices did not increase in all three Baltic countries - in Latvia and Lithuania by 22% or up to 102,49 EUR/MWh, but in Estonia by 19% or up to 94,38 EUR/MWh;
• An increase in the monthly average price can also be observed in the two interconnected electricity trading areas of the Baltic States - Sweden's zone 4 by 42% and in Finland by 102%, while in Poland, with which the Baltic States are interconnected, the price decreased by 8%, but average prices remained higher in the month. level than in the Baltic States and Scandinavia;
• The price of electricity in the Baltics was significantly affected by the price jump in Finland, which was caused by a combination of several circumstances - planned and unplanned outages of power plants and transmission lines, this was especially felt on August 21, when 3369 MW of the country's total production capacity, as well as 2500 MW of transmission, were unavailable. capacities for electricity import;
• The decrease in the amount of electricity produced in Finland was compensated by gas power plants in Latvia, thus balancing the price, and on a monthly basis, cogeneration plants in Latvia transferred 637% more to the network than in July, or 89 gigawatt hours of electricity, 73% of it in the period from August 21 to 26;
• Due to the unavailability of Finnish electricity, which was replaced by that produced in Latvia, traffic jams were observed in the direction from Latvia to Estonia between August 21 and 24, when prices in Estonia were higher than electricity prices in the Latvian zone, although the average monthly price in Estonia was lower;
• Compared to the previous month, the total amount of electricity imported to the Baltic States has decreased by 2,6%, the amount of imports from Poland has increased by 216%, while the amount of Nordic imports has decreased by 0,3% from Sweden and 17,5% from Finland.

Electricity production and consumption balance in Latvia*

*The market review includes information on electricity produced in Latvia and transferred to the grid, as well as received from the grid
** Clarified historical data

***Fossil energy source - fossil gas, renewable energy sources - hydro, solar, wind, biogas and biomass.

*The market review includes information on electricity produced in Latvia and transferred to the grid, as well as received from the grid
** Clarified historical data

Interconnection load and electricity prices

Price comparison between neighbouring bidding areas

Load of the Baltic States interconnections

Electricity import to the Baltic States

BALANCING MARKET IN THE BALTIC STATES

Balancing energy prices in the Baltic States

Highest and lowest bid prices

Total activated energy

Average hourly standard bid size

Abbreviations and designations used:

LV - Latvia trade area, LT - Lithuania trade area, EE - Estonia trade area, PL - Poland trade area, FI - Finland trade area, SE4 - Sweden's fourth trade area, AT - Austrian trade area, BE - Belgium trade area, DE-LU - German- Luxembourg trade area, FR - France trade area, NL - the Netherlands trade area, DK1 and DK2 - Danish 1. and 2. trade area, LBI - Lithuania-Belarus Import trade area, LRI - Latvia-Russia import trade area.

Load = monthly total commercial flow in kWh / monthly total net transfer capacity in kWh ("Net Transfer Capacity" NTC).

Nord Pool is a Nordic electricity exchange where, based on market principles, the electricity price of the Latvian trading area is determined.

[1] Here and in the following review, electricity imports are not commercial transactions, but electricity that physically entered the network from other countries.

[2] Here and in the following review, electricity exports are not commercial transactions, but electricity physically transferred from the grid to other countries.

[3] According to the (ENTSO-E) definition, which does not include electrical self consumption.