Wind farms and subdued consumption drag down energy prices in Romania

The average price on Romania’s spot electricity market was RON 596 (some EUR 120) per MWh in the first four months of the year, well below the average of RON 1,025 per MWh in 2022 – according to data from the OPCOM energy exchange cited by Ziarul Financiar.

It frequently happens that the price for some periods of the day is negative, particularly during the weekend when consumption is lower, Economica.net reported.

The wind farms in Romania were disconnected from the grid a couple of weeks ago amid negative prices in the spot market and very high prices in the balancing market. Otherwise, the wind farms would have been required to pay RON 2,000 per MWh produced in excess of the contracts. This points to the need to develop power storage facilities.

At the moment, Romania has about 3,000 MW in wind energy projects that last year provided 12% of energy production. Not much has been added over the past ten years, but a wave of PV parks is currently being developed, likely to add more pressure on the grid in terms of volatility.

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