Wholesale electricity prices dip in November

Wholesale electricity prices dipped in November following a climb in the previous month as wind generation increased, new figures show.

Industry lobbyist Wind Energy Ireland calculates that wholesale electricity prices averaged €122.90 a megawatt hour (mw/h), the unit in which it is sold, in November.

This was below the €125.50 mw/h at which they averaged in October, which was in turn 12 per cent more than in September.

Energy costs rose in October following gas and oil price hikes sparked by the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

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Wind Energy Ireland says that Irish wholesale electricity prices hit €153.48 mw/h on days last month when the country had to rely almost solely on fossil fuels.

However, the organisation maintains that they slid as low as €101.56 mw/h on days when weather allowed wind farms to contribute most to electricity supplies.

Wind generated 37 per cent of all Irish electricity in November, confirming that it has provided one-third of all the power consumed here so far this year.

Figures this week showed that across Ireland as a whole, wind generation hit a new record on one point on Tuesday, December 6th, supplying 4,626 megawatts.

Irish wholesale electricity prices, at which generators sell power to companies that supply homes and businesses, vary widely every hour depending on demand.

However, they have only a distant relationship with the prices paid by homes and businesses, as these are tied to rates paid months ago by suppliers, who buy the electricity they sell to customers well in advance.

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Those companies cut their charges in the autumn, but electricity prices here remain above pre-crisis levels.

In October’s budget, the Government pledged to give all homes a €150 per month credit towards their electricity bills in December, January and February to ease the impact of high energy prices.

Wind Energy Ireland chief executive Noel Cunniffe argued that his industry was insulating Irish families and businesses against the full impact of using expensive fossil fuels to generate electricity.

“With one month remaining in 2023, wind farms across Ireland have provided a third of the country’s electricity this year,” he said.

“These are Irish generators producing power without burning imported fossil fuels, which means that we can cut our carbon emissions at the same time as we cut our fuel imports.”

Mr Cunniffe added his voice to recent calls from other industry figures to address planning bottlenecks that are delaying the construction of more wind farms and other renewable electricity generators.