In November 2022, the average electricity price in the Latvian trading area increased to EUR 226.63 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which is 19.6% more than in October, while the price is 80.6% higher compared to November 2021.
Latvia's electricity consumption with local generation was covered at 82%, which is a significant increase compared to the trend seen since the beginning of summer to produce only 38 to 51% of the necessary. In November electricity was imported from neighboring countries at 104 691 MWh, which is 70% less than in October when 352 399 MWh of electricity were imported.
According to AST, changes in the amount of electricity imported into Latvia are due to a lack of cheaper supply in neighboring countries and the situation with energy adequacy in Europe as a whole – according to the ENTSO-E report published in the autumn, this winter, especially in January and February, will have a higher risk of unavailability of energy and an abnormally lower safety margin compared to previous years.
The potential risks of energy unavailability mentioned in the report already reflected changes in electricity prices and supply in November.
As imports fell, electricity produced by large cogeneration plants increased significantly in Latvia in November, increasing by 1464% or more than 15 times, reaching 265 674 MW, so in November more than half of all electricity was produced in cogeneration, with an increase of 52.5% in large cogeneration plants compared to November 2021.
In November, the total volume of electricity produced in Latvia was 493,477 MWh, which is 124.3% more than in October and 15.5% more than a year ago, while 572,414 MWh of electricity was consumed, which is 4.5% more than in October and 4.6% less than a year ago.
The decrease in consumption of 4.6% against 2021 is attributable to the increase in electricity prices, as well as the call by Latvian and European officials to conserve electricity due to potential capacity scarcity, both of which have generally contributed to changing consumer habits, said AST.
