Madrid (EFE).- The wholesale price of electricity stabilized during the month of May reaching 74.2 euros per megawatt hour (MWh), slightly above the average marked in April, but still among the lowest in The last two years.
According to the data compiled by EFE, May will close as the third month with the lowest price in the last two years, only behind the average of last January (71 euros/MWh) and April (73.7 euros/MWh). .
Likewise, it has remained 76% below the historical maximum of 308.6 euros/MWh that was reached in August 2022, the most expensive month to date, and registers a 60% drop compared to the same month of the previous year. .
In the last month, electricity has only exceeded 100 euros/MWh twice, a barrier that was exceeded 6 times in April, 14 in March, 26 in February and 7 in January.
No gas cap 94 days
The main protagonist of this decrease continues to be gas, whose price continues to fall after the collapse suffered since the beginning of the year, and which has caused the Iberian mechanism to chain for 94 days without being applied.
The price of gas, constantly located below 30 euros/MWh, has meant that it is not necessary to apply this tool on any day in May, since the price of this raw material has remained at all times below 57.2 euros/MWh, the maximum price set by the Government for that month.
In this sense, in the last month the Iberian Gas Market (Mibgas) has marked an average of 29 euros/MWh, only exceeding 30 euros in 12 days.
Since it came into force on June 15, almost a year ago, the gas cap adds up to 109 days in which it has not been applied -9 days in October, 8 in February, 31 in March, 30 in April and 31 in May-, and the last day it came into operation was February 26, when the ceiling was still at 50 euros/MWh.
Despite the fact that it has not been necessary to activate the cap on gas during the last three months, the Government and the European Commission agreed to extend it until December 31 with the aim of having a “safety net” for consumers in the if its price rises in the coming months.
The bill remains at 2020 levels
Where the stabilization of the wholesale market is reflected to a greater extent is in the electricity bill, which for an average consumer under the regulated tariff or PVPC will rise slightly compared to the previous month, but will remain at 2020 levels, in the midst of a pandemic.
Thus, for a typical consumer in the regulated market, using the simulator of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), with a contracted power of 4.4 kilowatts and a monthly consumption of 250 kilowatt hours (KWh) distributed in the different periods (peak, flat and valley), the bill for April will be below 50 euros.
This price is one of the lowest since May 2020, at the start of the pandemic, and is in line with the 48 euros registered on average in the first half of 2020.