Universal Registration Document 2020

The comments below concern baseload prices.

In France, spot electricity prices stood at an average € 32.2/MWh (baseload) and
€ 39.0/MWh (peakload) in 2020, down by € 7.2MWh and € 7.4/MWh respectively from 2019.

This decrease was mainly concentrated in the first half of the year under the combined effects of lower demand during lockdown, very low commodity prices, and high wind power output at European level. In the second half of the year, a recovery in demand and a moderate rise in gas prices brought spot prices close to their 2019 level for the same period.

In January and February, the marked decline in spot prices was attributable to very low gas and coal prices compared to early 2019, the fairly mild winter temperatures, and high stocks of gas and coal. Starting in March, the national lockdown significantly reduced demand for electricity: cumulative consumption between Marchand June was 15TWh lower in 2020 than 2019.The drop in CO₂ prices in March when all stock markets were falling also contributed to the price decrease. Spot prices for the first half-year of 2020 thus stood at an average € 17.3/MWh below first-half prices in 2019.

The second half of the year saw prices return to similar levels to 2019: from July, prices were sustained by the recovery in demand for electricity combined with lower nuclear power output due to maintenance work in preparation for the winter. In the final quarter, gas prices returned almost to their end-2019 levels and coal and CO₂ prices rose, pushing spot electricity prices up.

Demand in France in 2020 totalled 449.0TWh, down by 24.4TWh from 2019.
Output by nuclear and thermal power facilities declined by -44.1TWh and -3.3TWh respectively (gas-fired plants) compared to 2019, due to lower demand and disruption to nuclear fleet availability as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hydropower output was up by 5.1TWh in 2020, as was intermittent renewable energy output (+5.9TWh for wind power and +0.3TWH for solar power).

France’s export balance was 12.2TWh ⁽¹⁾ lower than in 2019. Most of the decrease concerned the third quarter (-13.6TWh), when thermal plant availability was lower.

In the United Kingdom, average spot electricity prices were down by € 9.4/MWh compared to 2019, standing at an average € 39.6/MWh for 2020. The decrease was observed across the whole of the first half-year from January, initially due to low gas prices (gas accounted for more than one third of 2020 energy production in the United Kingdom), and then to national lockdown’s effects on demand. Like France, the United Kingdom saw a return to near-2019 levels in the second half of the year as demand recovered and gas prices showed only a small upturn.

In Italy, average spot prices decreased by € 13.4/MWh compared to 2019, standing at an average € 38.9/MWh for 2020. This was one of the largest average decreases in Europe along with Spanish prices, illustrating the lockdown’s dramatic impact on demand for electricity in Italy in the first half-year, and the importance of gas in the Italian electricity mix.

In Germany, average spot prices were € 7.2/MWh lower than in 2019 at € 30.5/MWh for 2020. Price movements followed a similar curve to French spot prices, with a substantial decrease in the first half-year followed by a recovery in the second
half-year. In the first half of the year, low fuel prices, a mild winter and higher levels of wind power output added to the impact of the national lockdown on demand (although the effect was less pronounced than elsewhere in Europe) and prices were pulled downwards (-€14.9TWh lower than in first-half 2019). Starting in the summer, prices returned to a level close to second-half 2019, when fuel prices had already been relatively low.

In Belgium, spot prices retreated by € 7.5/MWh from 2019, with an average price of
€ 31.9/MWh for 2020. This decrease exclusively concerned the first half-year(prices were lower by an average € 17.2/MWh than in first-half 2019) and had similar causes as in neighbouring countries: the levels of gas and coal prices, high renewable energy output, the mild winter, and demand affected by lockdown.

5.1.2.1.2 Forward electricity prices in Europe⁽²⁾