Electricity Exchange Price in Estonia 15 Euros Lower Than in Latvia

According to reports from the Nord Pool Spot (NPS) Nordic electricity exchange, the average electricity price in the Estonian price area in August was 15 euros lower per megawatt-hour in comparison with the price in Latvia.

Last month, the price of electricity increased in all NPS price areas without exception, though still remaining significantly lower than the historical average in many areas. The average system price of the NPS electricity exchange increased by 37 per cent, reaching 13.05 euros per megawatt-hour.

In August, the average price of the NPS Estonian price area was 31.20 euros per megawatt-hour, increasing by 11 per cent in comparison with July. The increased price caused an increase in domestic production and therefore the increase in the Estonian electricity producers’ share in covering the deficit in Latvia and Lithuania.

In Finland, the price increased by 13 per cent in a monthly comparison, reaching 31.12 euros per megawatt-hour. In Latvia and Lithuania, the average price was 46.40 euros per megawatt-hour, increasing by almost five per cent. In consequence, the electricity price in Estonia was only eight cents higher than in Finland. At the same time, the price in Latvia and Lithuania was 15.20 euros higher than in Estonia.

After distributing day-ahead transmission capacities, the power flow between Estonia and Finland was directed from Finland to Estonia for 710 hours and from Estonia to Finland for 34 hours. Between Estonia and Latvia, the power flow was directed from Estonia to Latvia for all hours. 93 per cent of the transmission capacity between Estonia and Latvia and 53 per cent of the transmission capacity between Estonia and Finland was used last month. Estonian and Finnish electricity exchange prices coincided for 99 per cent of the time in August. Estonian and Latvian prices were on the same level for only 28 per cent of the time.

After July’s increase in price, carbon dioxide emission quota prices underwent a correction at the beginning of August. Price increases recovered during the second third of August with the unit price breaching the eight-euro mark again. The highest closing price for emission quotas was 8.34 euros in August, the lowest closing price was 7.76 euros per tonne, and the average price remained at 8.05 euros per tonne.

According to financial transactions on the Nasdaq OMX Commodities market, the average price for electricity in the NPS Estonian price area for September 2015 is expected to be 35.65 euros per megawatt-hour and the average price in the fourth quarter may reach 38.15 euros per megawatt-hour.

In August, profits from the Estonian-Finnish connections’ transmission capacity totalled 53,000 euros, and profits from Latvian connections totalled 6.70 million euros. The auction yearly and monthly product price for risk hedging instruments or PTRs-limited sold to market participants was lower than the actual price difference between the Estonian and Latvian price areas. At the same time, the quarter product price was higher than the actual price difference in August. All in all, market participants who bought PTRs-limited earned 1.17 million euros in profit in August. Elering’s profit for cross-border capacity distribution was 2.79 million euros.