Power exchange difference with Latvia rises to 4.42 euros per megawatt-hour in May

In May, the Latvian day-ahead electricity exchange price was 4.42 euros per megawatt-hour higher than in Estonia, with the price difference in April being around one euro.

According to data provided by the Nord Pool electricity exchange, the electricity day-ahead price in Estonia fell by 4.9 per cent and averaged 28.26 euros per megawatt-hour last month. The price in Latvia rose by 6.4 per cent during the same period to 32.68 euros per megawatt-hour. In Lithuania, the price was 32.87 euros.

In Finland, the average electricity exchange price in May was 28.06 euros per megawatt-hour. This means that the price in Estonia was only 20 cents per megawatt-hour higher than in Finland.

In May, electricity traders used nearly 59 per cent of the cross-border transmission capacity from Finland to Estonia. In the same period, 79 per cent of capacity in the Estonia-Latvia direction was used. The full capacity in those directions was used for 5 and 46 per cent of hours respectively.

The average price for carbon dioxide emission quotas, which influence the price of electricity, fluctuated between 5.69 and 6.19 euros per ton, with the average price totalling 5.96 euros.

On the basis of futures transactions in the Nasdaq OMX exchange, the electricity price in the NPS Estonia price area could be 32.25 euros in May, and the average price for the third quarter of 2016 will be 33.28 euros per megawatt-hour. In Latvia, the exchange price may be nearly a tenth higher, based on futures transactions.

Elering earned about 1 million euros in cross-border capacity distribution auction profit in May.