Kommersant announces record high electricity prices

In December, the exchange prices for electricity in the European part of Russia and the Urals for commercial consumers rose to a historic high – up to about 1800 rubles. for 1 MW/h, writes Kommersant with reference to its own calculations.

According to the newspaper, since the beginning of December, wholesale prices have increased by 12% in annual terms. The record fell on December 24, when prices reached a value of 1800 rubles. for 1 MW/h. The previous record was set on August 9, 2021. In the week from December 19 to December 26, day-ahead energy market prices increased by more than 20% yoy, to 1,700 rubles. for 1 MW/h.

It is specified that a sharp jump in prices was caused, among other things, by the simultaneous withdrawal of several NPP units for scheduled and unscheduled repairs. In particular, according to Rosenergoatom, scheduled work is currently underway at four units with a capacity of 3.6 GW at the Rostov, Novovoronezh, Leningrad and Balakovo stations. In addition, unscheduled repairs were required for the first unit of the Smolensk NPP (1 GW), the fifth unit of the Leningrad NPP (1.2 GW), the first unit of the Rostov NPP (1 GW). as well as the third unit of the Kalinin NPP (1 GW). As a result, on December 22, almost 8 GW of nuclear power plants “left” the market at once.

The System Operator also pointed out this, emphasizing that, as a rule, only two or three nuclear power units are in scheduled repairs in winter. “An uncharacteristic overlap of short-term unscheduled repairs in the current December was observed for a fairly short period, the maximum of which fell on December 22–24,” the operator noted.

As a result, generating companies turned on thermal power plants, whose energy is becoming more expensive due to rising gas prices. In particular, the “Community of Energy Consumers” noted that the cost of gas, taking into account the July indexation by 5%, increased by 13.9% in total. Energy market regulators claim that the “uncharacteristic” situation with the shutdown of a large number of NPP units has ended and prices have begun to decline.