Latvian electricity market overview

In December 2022, the average electricity price in the Latvian trading area increased to EUR 263,91 per megawatt hour (MWh), which is 16,5% more than in November, but compared to December 2021, the price is 27,2% higher.

Highlights in December:

• In December, 637,545 MWh of electricity was produced in Latvia, which is 29% more than in November and 5% less than a year ago, while 661,048 MWh of electricity was consumed, which is 11% more than in November and 6,7% less than a year ago;
• The increase in the amount of electricity production in December is also related to the sufficiency of regional capacities - in the middle of December, with the onset of colder weather and increasing consumption, there were very small reserves of production capacities in the Baltics and especially in the Scandinavian countries, because several nuclear power plants were under repair in Sweden and the import of electricity from Scandinavia to the Baltics was replaced with local generation;
• The amount of electricity produced in large cogeneration stations has increased significantly - it has grown by 47%, reaching 391,559 MWh, so in December 61% of all electricity produced in Latvia was directly cogeneration, and compared to December 2021, an increase of 26,3% can also be observed in large cogeneration stations ;
• Latvia's electricity consumption was covered by local generation to the extent of 96,4%, which is the second highest achievement in 2022 - only during the floods in April it was possible to reach a higher figure - then 113% of the electricity needed by the country was produced, the amount of electricity missing in December - 23 503 MWh was imported from neighboring countries;
• The decrease in consumption compared to last year is related to the increase in electricity prices, as well as the call of Latvian and European officials to save electricity due to possible capacity shortages - both of these conditions have generally contributed to a change in consumer habits, while the increase in December compared to November is related to seasonal changes in consumption.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN LATVIA DECEMBER 2022

* Rīgas TEC-1, Rīgas TEC-2, AS "Rīgas Siltums", SIA "Juglas Jauda", SIA "Fortum"

INTERCONNECTION LOAD AND ELECTRICITY PRICES

COMPARISON OF PRICES BETWEEN NEIGHMOURING PRICES AREAS

CONGESTION OF THE BALTIC INTERCONNECTIONS

IMPORT OF ELECTRICITY TO THE BALTIC STATES

Balancing market in the Baltics

BALANCING ENERGY PRICES IN THE BALTICS

HIGHEST AND LOWEST BID PRICES

TOTAL ACTIVATED ENERGY BY COUNTRY, MWh

AVERAGE STANDARD BID AMOUNT IN HOUR, MW

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).

[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.