The T-4 Capacity Auction for delivery in 2024/25 concluded last week, clearing in Round 12 with a clearing price of £18/kW/year and a total procured de-rated capacity volume of 40.8GW. A total of 52.0GW of de-rated capacity entered the auction, 79% of which was accepted.
Prices in the GB electricity market soared at the beginning of this month. The maximum day-ahead price in the market in the first week of March was £683 – more than three times the maximum day-ahead price of £191.55 seen in any day in March in the previous six years.
FCR prices have become more volatile and will continue to be so in the future due to increased renewable generation, decreasing conventional generation and growing uncertainty across generators - mostly driven by France. Significant periods of low FCR supply are expected.
Britain’s exit from the EU has resulted in reduced trading on the electricity interconnectors between GB & Ireland and increased the frequency of extreme prices although the withdrawal agreement ensured that the SEM would remain intact.
Norway overtook France to become the biggest net exporter of power in Europe in the second half of 2020. Norwegian water reserves increased steadily and reached a new peak for the first time since 2015. Italy remains biggest net importer.
Colder weather combined with a reduced contribution from renewable power sources such as wind and solar, conventional plant unavailability and new post-Brexit trading arrangements resulted in tight margins in several electricity markets such as GB and France.
A new ancillary service, dynamic containment, procured by National Grid to manage the frequency of Britain’s electricity system remains undersubscribed more than four months after its launch in October 2020, but is showing its potential as a useful new revenue stream for battery projects.
GB’s power market is set for radical change as its interconnectivity will more than double in the next three years despite Brexit and other various barriers. Power markets do not sit alone in isolation. Great Britain’s power market is connected to several countries.
Negative power prices have swept across Europe in the first nine months of 2020, with excess power in the market resulting in consumers being paid rather than charged to use electricity. European countries on average saw negative day ahead prices almost 1% of the time.
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