Latvian electricity market overview

In February, the average price of electricity in Latvia increased by 14,1%, reaching 113,77 EUR/MWh (EUR per megawatt hour), which is significantly lower than the average price level of 2022 - 226,91 EUR/MWh.

Highlights in February:

• Although the total amount of electricity produced in Latvia decreased by 25% in February compared to January, due to the high amount of electricity produced by the Daugava HPP, as well as the increase in large cogeneration stations, in February Latvia produced 18% more electricity than was consumed;
• Thus, in February Latvia exported a total of 104 gigawatt hours of electricity to neighboring countries, which is less than in January, when 274 gigawatt hours of electricity were exported;
• In February, the fall in Latvia continued and, in general, the amount of electricity produced by the Daugava HPP remains high, despite a 44% drop compared to January;
• As gas prices continue to decrease, the production of electricity in large cogeneration stations has increased by 35%, while the development of small cogeneration stations (with a capacity of up to 10 megawatts) has increased by 116%;
• In Latvia, since May 2022, the amount of electricity consumed has continued to decrease - compared to January, it decreased by 9%, and compared to February 2022 - by 3,7%, the decrease can be explained by the increase in the amount of microgeneration in households, as a result of which not everything is accounted for the amount of electricity consumed, as well as the increase in electricity prices, as a result of which consumers changed their electricity consumption habits;
• After 2022, which was full of price fluctuations and anti-records, in January and February of this year, stabilization of prices can be observed in the Baltics - in January they were around 100 EUR/MWh, and in February - around 114 EUR/MWh;
• Smaller price fluctuations were observed in the interconnected price zones of the Baltics - in Finland and Poland, prices increased by 1,7% and 3,2%, but in Sweden's 4th price area it decreased by 1,7%, price stabilization is also observed elsewhere in Europe;
• Although no limits were set for the international transmission capacities from Sweden to Lithuania and from Finland to Estonia in February, they were still not sufficient to prevent congestion and price differences between regions.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN LATVIA FEBRUARY 2023

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

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.