The price of electricity on the market for bilateral contracts of the Romanian stock exchange OPCOM exceeded the threshold of 500 euros per MWh.
On August 4, Nuclearelectrica, the state-owned company that manages the Cernavoda nuclear power plant, offered for sale on the bilateral contract market four electricity packages of 10 MW each, with delivery in the first four months of 2023.
The company has set a price of BGN 1,900 (EUR 390) per MWh. However, one package (28.8 GWh) was purchased by Petrom at a price of 2,492 leva (510.6 euros) per MWh, and the other at a price of 2,500 leva (512.1 euros) per MWh.
It is the highest price so far recorded in this market for electricity with delivery in the first quarter of 2023.
The uncertainty on the market is best illustrated by the fact that this enormous price was paid by Petrom, one of the important electricity producers in Romania, which operates the Brazi gas power plant (860 MW).
Why did Petrom decide to buy electricity at this price? A possible explanation is the fear that he will not have enough gas for his power plant, which in that case will not be able to fulfill contractual obligations related to the delivery of electricity.
This would mean that Petrom has calculated that its customers, ie market participants, will pay an even higher price for the energy used at the beginning of next year.
The other two packages from Nuclearelectrica were bought by the large supplier Electrica Furnizare, at similar prices – around 500 euros per MWh.
These contracts signal that electricity prices continue to rise, and not only on the spot market.
For example, on August 4, anonymous transactions for delivery in January and February 2023 were realized on the OTC market at a price of 553 euros per MWh.
The same is indicated by the ROPEX-FM price index, which shows average futures prices up to a given date. Thus, on August 4, the average price of electricity traded until then, with delivery in January 2023, was around 163 euros per MWh. For February and March, this indicator amounts to 172 euros.
A month ago, ROPEX-FM for the same period next year was 137 euros per MWh.
Source: e-nergia.ro
