March Brings Relief for Electricity Consumers – Significant Drop in Wholesale Prices

The first week of March brought a €36 drop in the wholesale electricity price in our country. Specifically, the average electricity price fell during the first eight days of the month to €119 per megawatt-hour from €155 in February. This result stems from improved weather conditions combined with the return of sunlight and wind, which significantly increased the production of photovoltaic and wind energy in the Greek system. Notably, today, Saturday, renewable sources returned to 48% of total electricity production, closer to their established level of 50-55%. Previously, they had dropped to 20-25% for several days last month. Simultaneously, for the first time since autumn, hours with zero electricity prices in the wholesale market reappeared. For instance, today from noon until 3 PM, prices dropped as low as €0.04 to €2.21/MWh. Last week, another significant development favored Greek consumers: the price of natural gas in Europe dramatically decreased below €40, compared to €58 just a few weeks ago. Combining these factors with cheaper gas creates favorable conditions for a notable decrease in retail prices in April. Initially, this suggests that government subsidies may not be necessary. In fact, the market anticipates further declines in domestic wholesale prices as we approach April. It is estimated that within the next few months, prices could fall to levels around €60/MWh or even lower. Thus, consumers will experience significant relief after the tough winter months before the inevitable rise of summer.