Latvian electricity market overview

In April 2022, the average electricity price in the Latvian trading area decreased to EUR 109,40 per megawatt hour (MWh), which is 33,4% less than in March, but compared to April 2021, the price is 251% higher.

Highlights in April

• In April, 657,689 MWh of electricity was produced in Latvia, which is 43% more than in March and half a percent more than a year ago, while electricity consumption in Latvia was 582,651 MWh, which is 12% less than in March and half a percent more than a year ago;
• For the first time since April last year, Latvia managed to produce 13% more electricity than it consumed, thus in April Latvia became an electricity exporting country;
• The increase in the volume of production in Latvia is related to the spring floods: due to the large inflow of water, the generation at the Daugava HPP was 58% higher than in March, while compared to April last year, it increased by 10,4%. The inflow of water in the Daugava was also stimulated by the fact that in April, according to the data of the Latvian Center for Environment, Geology and Meteorology, the amount of precipitation was 9% higher than the norm of long-term observations;
• Due to the high costs, the large cogeneration plants practically did not work in April - they produced 9% less than in March and 58% less than a year ago;
• The amount of development of wind power plants increased significantly - by 72,6% - compared to March, while compared to April 2021 it decreased by 15,8%;
• In April, both in the Baltics and in the interconnected trade areas, as well as in Europe, electricity prices decreased, on average reaching the price level of November 2021;
• In April, for the second time since the opening of the electricity market, a significantly lower electricity price was recorded in Latvia than in the Nordic countries - the price of the NordPool exchange system, which consists of the average price of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, was 133,80 EUR/MWh, or 24,40 EUR/MWh higher than in Latvia. Previously, a lower electricity price in Latvia compared to the Nordic countries was recorded only once - in March 2019, when the difference was insignificant - 0,79 EUR MWh. In Latvia, the lower price was formed due to the high development of renewable energy resources - hydroelectric power plants and wind power plants;
• In April, the import of electricity to the Baltics decreased: 15% less was imported from Europe, or a total of 938,152 MWh, from Russia - 5% less, or a total of 209,113 MWh, while, compared to April 2021, there was an increase in imports from Europe by 24% and a 37% drop in imports from Russia.

ELECTRICITY GENERATION IN LATVIA APRIL 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:

[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.

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).

Commercial electricity imports to the Baltic States from third countries (Russia) take place on the Latvian-Russian border (LRI-LV) and the Lithuanian-Kaliningrad border (LT-LKAL), according to NordPool data.

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