Wholesale electricity prices fell by 35% in June

Wholesale electricity prices slid by more than one third in June, continuing a fall dating back to last year, according to figures from one industry group.

Domestic and business electricity bills have more than doubled since an energy crisis erupted in late 2021.

[ Electricity prices for households to start coming down in the next few months, says Eamon Ryan ]

However, wholesale prices have been falling over the past six months as international pressures fuelling the crisis eased.

Lobby group Wind Energy Ireland calculates that the average wholesale electricity price slipped to €117.11 a megawatt hour (MW/h) in June, 35 per cent lower than during the same month last year.

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Prices were even lower on days with high levels of wind-generated electricity, slipping to €106.98MW/h, while they were almost €135MW/h when the system relied mostly on fossil fuels, said the group.

However, the warm, settled weather that lasted for most of June meant wind only fuelled 20 per cent of Irish electricity consumption that month, the organisation said.

Wind farms supplied one third of electricity used here over the first six months of this year.

Suppliers say wholesale rates have no bearing on household charges, as these are tied to electricity companies’ practice of buying energy months in advance of supply to consumers.

[ Transition to renewables will require ‘huge national effort’, energy summit told ]

Falling natural gas prices, which ultimately determine electricity charges, played a key role in the wholesale slide in recent months.

However, natural gas prices have been rising on the London market since May, when they were close to 60 pence sterling a therm, the unit in which the fuel is sold.

Gas traded at almost 85p a therm in London on Thursday, while contracts for supplies of the fuel for next winter were £1.31 sterling.

Noel Cunniffe, chief executive of Wind Energy Ireland, argued that electricity supplies from the group’s members helped protect homes and businesses from the worst impact of imported gas, which continues to sell for far more than before the crisis.