As predicted the business in April because of lower consumption and the commissioning of new power plants there has been a jump in the unit price on the market of electric power. The index increased by 17% year-on-year, in some regions the price has exceeded 1 million rubles. per 1 MW. In may and June, the industry expects a further rise in prices and asks the intervention of the regulators. According to analysts, the total payment for the whole year will increase by 7%, to 1 trillion, but it will not lead to a significant increase of the final electricity prices.”Market Council” (the regulator of energy markets) have analyzed the price of power on the wholesale energy market during the first month of quarantine (the review is in “Kommersant”). In April, the unit capacity price in the first price zone (European part of Russia and Ural) amounted to 965 thousand rubles. per 1 MW, which is 17% above the price in April of last year. In the second pricing zone (Siberia) specific capacity price amounted to 719 thousand RUB over 1 MW, an increase of 16.2% year-on-year. In three regions — the Volgograd, Kurgan and Rostov regions — unit price of power exceeds RUB 1 million per 1 MW. Thus, the unit price of power has reached the maximum performance from March 2019.On the market for days forward (RSV, the sector of electricity trade) in April was the opposite situation: due to the lower demand, the average price in the first pricing zone fell by 15.1% year-on-year, to 1.15 million RUB for 1 MW•h, while the second decreased by 12.2%, to 919 Euro per 1 MW•h electricity in Russia consists of two parts — the cost of the electricity day-ahead market and the costs of power, consisting mainly of non-market benefits.The reason for the growth in the unit price of power — drop in peak power consumption due to the introduction of working days in April by 9.1% year-on-year in both price zones. Along with this, in the European part of Russia and the Urals on the price of power has affected glands Novovoronezh NPP-2, zaramagsky hydroelectric power stations-1 and new renewable energy facilities. In Siberia, also increased the cost of purchase power for the PDM the PDM thermal power plants and RES, the review of the “market Council”.”In may and June operational data shows that the situation continues to deteriorate, so the regulator needs to intervene to lower charges for power, the relevant proposals to the government, we have sent”,— told “Kommersant” in the “Community of energy consumers” (which includes industrial energy consumers). In April, the Association has sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov with a request to lower payments for power twice before the end of the year (see Kommersant dated 29 April).”This year from-for falling of demand in April, the planned amount of power was broadcast for fewer purchases and a smaller number of consumers, therefore, specific capacity price for those who have to work, rose,” he says.According to Vladimir Sklyar from “VTB Capital”, the total PLA��hedgehog for capacity in 2020 will amount to 1.01 trillion rubles In 2020, the PDM program is peak payments, but as output from the program in 2021, the payments will be significantly reduced. Only the introduction of new Leningrad NPP will support the total payments for capacity, the analyst continues. “Despite the rapid growth in the unit price of power, the total payment for capacity in 2020 will grow by less than 7%,— still exceeding inflation, but with the falling prices of RSV it will not lead to a significant increase of the end tariff”,— says Vladimir Sklyar.Pauline Smertin
