In the second week of March, European electricity markets witnessed significant price increases, primarily driven by soaring gas prices and reduced renewable energy generation. On March 10, many markets reached their highest daily prices, with Italy seeing a notable weekly average increase of 4.4%. Portugal experienced a surge of 22%, while both Spain and France reported rises of 23%. Conversely, regions like Belgium and the Nordic market experienced declines, with decreases of 4.3% and 21%, respectively.
Throughout the week of March 9, most European markets recorded weekly average prices exceeding €80/MWh. The exceptions were the Nordic, Portuguese, and Spanish markets, which had averages of €66.15/MWh, €67.88/MWh, and €70.03/MWh. Italy’s weekly average stood at €147.54/MWh—the highest among the analyzed markets—while France’s average was €80.77/MWh and Great Britain’s reached €105.07/MWh.
Daily price trends revealed that on March 15, Spain and Portugal recorded their lowest daily averages for the week at €6.44/MWh. Notably, both markets dropped below €20/MWh on March 14. The Nordic market hit its lowest point since December 28, 2025, at €15.51/MWh on March 13.
In contrast, Italy maintained daily prices above €140/MWh for most of the week, except for Sunday. On March 10, Italy achieved its highest daily average at €168.54/MWh since February 14, 2025. Portugal and Spain also recorded their peak prices since February 18, 2025, at €131.79/MWh and €136.86/MWh respectively on the same day. Great Britain’s daily price peaked at €150.24/MWh on March 9—the highest since February 15, 2025—while Belgium reached a high of €146.22/MWh on March 10.
The upward pressure on electricity prices in Spain, Italy, and Portugal can be attributed to elevated gas prices coupled with lower wind energy production in these regions during the week. Increased demand further contributed to rising prices in Portugal and France; however, stronger wind generation in other areas helped mitigate some price pressures.
AleaSoft Energy Forecasting anticipates that electricity prices will remain elevated as geopolitical instability in the Middle East continues to affect gas pricing dynamics. Lower wind generation in the Iberian Peninsula along with decreased solar output in Spain is expected to impact market prices in both Spain and Portugal during the third week of March. Nevertheless, a potential increase in renewable generation across several major European markets could help alleviate some of these price pressures.
