The average baseload day-ahead price on the Italian IPEX power exchange in April dropped to a new record low, the third consecutive month it has done so, market operator Gestore Mercati Energetici (GME) said in its monthly report published Monday.
The average daily price in the month was Eur31.99/MWh ($36.22/MWh), which was a decrease from the previous record low of Eur35.22/MWh that was recorded in March this year, according to GME. The April average was also a 33% decline from April last year, the company said.
Record lows were achieved in all the price regions, with the North seeing an average of Eur30.83/MWh and Sicily registering an average of Eur36.70/MWh in the month, GME added.
Meanwhile, the average peakload price on the exchange platform during the month was Eur32.69/MWh, down 33% from April last year while offpeak day-ahead prices averaged Eur31.64/MWh, also down 33% year on year. Both were also record lows, according to the group.
The hourly minimum in the month was Eur17.20/MWh while the hourly maximum was Eur66.36/MWh.
Average hourly baseload volume on the day-ahead market during the month, comprising of both bourse and over the counter trade, rose 2% year on year to 31.4 GWh, GME said, with average hourly baseload volume on the bourse up 4% year on year to 22.7 GWh.
Total offered volume on the system (bourse and OTC) was 40.1 TWh in the month, unchanged year on year, while total demand volume was 23.9 TWh, up 3.9% year on year.
This meant that there was 68% more volume offered than requested in the month. This compared to an average of 64% of excess supply in the full year 2015.
Wholesale sales by generation type saw gas-fired generation cover 36.3% of supply in the month, up from 30.9% in April last year, while renewables, including hydro, covered 43.8% of supply from 45.7% in the same month last year. Coal covered 8.0%, down from 9.5%, while other traditional thermal sources supplied 9.9%, down from 12.9% the previous April, GME said.
On the country's international links, the market coupling mechanism saw 78% of the 2.6 GWh total hourly capacity allocated to the French border, with 98% of that amount being import volume, the group said.
