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The price of electricity on Serbian power exchange SEEPEX today reached historical records of EUR 539 per megawatt-hour for baseload and EUR 561 for peak load. Power and gas prices spiked all over Europe to all-time highs amid Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
Brent oil reached USD 139.13 per barrel, the highest price since 2008, while Dutch TTF natural gas futures reached an all-time intraday record of EUR 345 per MWh at the ICE Index exchange. The previous was set in December 2021 – EUR 180.
The latest spike in prices, which have been growing on an unprecedented scale since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, occurred after the United States said it may introduce an import ban for Russian oil. There are also fears that Russian gas supplies to Europe would be cut off.
The price of electricity rose from about EUR 150 to EUR 539 per MWh in one week
The previous historical record on the Serbian power exchange SEEPEX was achieved in December last year, with EUR 420 for base energy and EUR 496 for peak load. Since then, prices have been steadily declining, reaching EUR 150 at the end of February. But after the start of the war, the sharp rise in prices started, and in a week, they were up four times (price chart).
In March and April the prices of electricity are usually the lowest during the year
Dejan Stojčevski, Chief Operating Officer of the SEEPEX, told Balkan Green Energy News that electricity prices are fueled by rising oil, gas, and coal prices. The situation is similar on all power exchanges, he added.
The price in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria is around EUR 540 per MWh, in Bulgaria and Greece around EUR 430, while in Germany it is EUR 490.
The prices have never been higher, and it is clear that the war led to this, stressed Stojčevski. He also noted that it is common for the electricity price to be the lowest during March and April during the calendar year, which is now not the case.
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