Together with the increasing costs of balancing energy, the effects of this price increase will be reflected in consumer bills.
Although in January 2017 the day-ahead price of the Romanian energy exchange OPCOM skyrocketed due to an extremely cold wave, which eventually caused a series of bankruptcies among electricity suppliers, the average closing price on the spot market in the first quarter of 2021 is higher than in the first quarter of 2017. Namely, it is the highest average price in the first quarter in the last five years.
March especially contributed to this statistic. The average day-ahead OPCOM price in March was 54.46 euros/MWh, which is significantly higher compared to March prices in the last five years. As a rule, it is common for spot prices to fall in the first days of spring, in conditions of increased hydropower production. However, this was not the case this year – so the average day-ahead price in the first quarter of 2021 amounted to 52.5 euros/ MWh, while in the previous five years the price ranged from 33.1 euros/MWh in 2018 to 52.1 euros/MWh in 2019.
