A milder-than-expected winter proved to be Europe’s strongest ally in the fight against energy crisis. None of the emergency precautions Member States rushed to put in place ahead of the winter season should have been activated for the time being, and no European citizen has had to… put on a second sweater or take a timed bath just to remind us of panic. who dominated Old Epirus previous months.

Mild weather has significantly reduced demand gas and electricity, a factor that drove prices down and filled warehouses, leaving a significant legacy on the resilience of the European energy system for the coming winter. Although winter is not over yet, according to market participants, even in the event of a sharp change in weather conditions in February-March, prices will recover, but by no means will we see the crazy rallies recorded last year.

Europe, however, remains on the alert as the crisis, although over, is not over, as shown by the United Kingdom’s decision to reopen three lignite plants and ask households to reduce demand by 336 megawatts when the thermometer began to dip below zero degrees Celsius. .

Providers

However, Europe remains on the alert, as the crisis, though over, is not over.

In our country, events portend an extension of the quiet days for electricity prices. In February, suppliers announced a reduction in nominal electricity prices by up to 60% from January’s lowest of the year. Prices range from 18.5 to 24.8 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to 35.8 and 48.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in January and are only 9-14 cents from pre-crisis levels. With a minimum price of 19.9 minutes per kilowatt hour, PPC estimates the first 500 kilowatt hours in February and 21.1 minutes per kilowatt hour above 500 kilowatt hours, which, unlike previous months, announced one of the lowest tariffs on the market. The corresponding PPC tariff in January was 48.9 cents for the first 500 kilowatt-hours and 50.01 cents for over 500 kilowatt-hours. For consumers, the nominal prices of suppliers do not matter much after the adjustment clause is removed. The issue mainly concerns the financial apparatus of the government, which must compensate monthly for the deviation of the nominal price of the CPP tariff at the level of 15-17 cents, as this was allowed to relieve households. The good news for the relevant public authorities is that subsidy funds will be reduced by up to 75% in February compared to January, which in total reached 870 million euros, and for households – 470 million euros. The corresponding household fund, which is expected to be announced within two days by Environment and Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas, is valued at around 100 million euros.

subsidies

Consumption subsidies are expected to be correspondingly low in March. This is because the significant gas price de-escalation at the Dutch TTF hub in January (almost below 50%) was not reflected in the February tariffs. Domestic companies value natural gas based on the previous month’s average TTF price. This means that no matter where the price moves in February, electricity producers will take into account the January price in their offers to the wholesale market.

However, the de-escalation in natural gas prices seems to stabilize at 62-63 euros per MWh in the following months, until June. Electricity prices in European wholesale markets are also on a downward trend. Greece is currently in the lowest positions with a price of 194.69 euros per MWh. The corresponding price in France is 204.50 euros and in Germany it is 202.69 euros.