Business

Electricity prices in January up over 50% on last year

Electricity prices in the north are over 50 per cent higher than they were a year ago
Electricity prices in the north are over 50 per cent higher than they were a year ago Electricity prices in the north are over 50 per cent higher than they were a year ago

ELECTRICITY prices in the north are over 50 per cent higher than they were a year ago, it has been revealed.

The latest Naturgy Energy Review and Forecast shows that Northern Ireland electricity prices in January were 54 per cent higher than the same month in 2018.

The tariff was up 4 per cent over the month, while a record high rate was recorded on January 24.

Gas prices, however fell last month by 9 per cent, but are up 15 per cent on January 2018.

On average, renewables account for 30 percent of the power generation mix, with wind generation down a significant 23 per cent from the previous month.

Naturgy Energy analyst, Lauren Stewart said the extreme electricity price hike was largely a result of power outages.

"The increase in electricity prices can be attributed to the unplanned outages at baseload generators like Moneypoint and Great Island which are vital to security of supply as Moneypoint alone can meet 16 percent of Ireland’s electricity requirements," Ms Stewart said.

"We also witnessed a record price spike in the imbalance market during the month."

She said the slide in gas prices last month was due to the delayed arrival of winter temperatures.

“Sentiment in the wholesale gas market continued its bearish trajectory in the month of January after receiving record LNG (Liquefied natural gas) supplies into Britain from the previous month."

"With strong deliveries of LNG into Europe expected to continue into February and March and the system characterised as being in extreme oversupply, any volatility in prices would be expected to be due to weather driven demand," she added.