On the morning of Tuesday 23 December, the GME power exchange crumbled every price record . Al next update of the bills, on 1 January, the shock will be very strong. But the increase is immediate for companies and large consumers who buy electricity with industrial contracts.
The numbers. The average wholesale price of Italian electricity supplies fixed Tuesday 23 at the energy exchange of Gme , the Energy Markets Manager, for supplies on Wednesday 24 November is 289.27 euros per thousand kilowatt hours, or 28.9 cents per kilowatt hour. It is the highest average price since the kilowatt hour market in 2004.The highest price ever reached is for supplies on Wednesday afternoon, when the sun declines on the horizon, when the centrali a gas are called to accelerate at full throttle on the ” ramp “To replace the sudden sleep of photovoltaic power plants. Here is the price: from 6 to 7 pm on Wednesday 24 November, wholesale electricity supplies arrive at the unprecedented price of 385 euros per thousand kilowatt hours, 38.5 cents per kilowatt hour. A comparison: the average price in 2020 was 38.92 euros per thousand kilowatt hours. A tenth.
How the power exchange works
Every morning before 12, the electric producers propose offers for each hour of the following day. With the marginal price criterion, the most common in the power exchanges of the various countries, increasingly expensive offers are gradually accepted until the current needs are covered; the time when the relationship between consumer electricity demand and the supply of power plants is most tense is that of transition, when the price is dictated by the very expensive gas power plants called to turn on at sunset. The price for all buyers is the Pun (single national price), which is the average price.
(The other widespread but less common stock exchange system is the pay as you bid, each current batch is paid according to the offer).
Prices in Italy
For years, average prices in Italy have generally moved around 50-80 euros per thousand kilowatt hours. Until summer 2021, monthly prices did not differ too much from these fluctuations, between € 56.5 in February and € 84.8 in June.
From July to September the average was over 100 euros.
Average price in October, 217.63 euros with a blaze of up to 380 euros.
Average price in November , 218.54 euros per thousand kilowatt hours with the blaze of November 24 at 289.27 euros and the evening explosion of 385 euros.
The previous week
In the week from Monday 15 to Sunday 21 November, the Energy Markets Manager (GME) had recorded an average purchase price of electricity (Pun) equal to 236.5 euros per thousand kilowatt hours (+31.95 euros, +15 , 6% compared to the previous week). This was announced by the GME.
The volumes of electricity traded directly on the GME exchange also increased, equal to 4.2 billion kilowatt hours (+ 1.6%), with liquidity at 72.5% (+0.2 percentage points). Average selling prices, rising everywhere, varied between 234.8 euros in Calabria and 242.56 euros per thousand kilowatt hours in Sicily.