VERT: heat and electricity should be cheaper for residents this year, the price of natural gas will remain at a similar level – Respublika.lt

On Thursday, the international biofuel exchange Baltpool announced that the heat this heating season was 16 percent. cheaper.

“Taking into account the fact that simply during the heating seasons there was a different air temperature, a different need for heat, the total amount payable by consumers was slightly lower compared to the same heating season of 2021-2022”, – the VERT Council told reporters on Friday, reviewing the trends of the heat market member Matas Taparauskas.

“After considering the influence of inflation, this heating season, which has already ended, is at a very similar level to the 2018-2019 season. This is the situation we had during the crisis, it has stabilized and higher prices are more due to the fact that the purchasing power of money has fallen significantly compared to past periods,” added the representative of the market regulator.

According to VERT, heat prices were most affected by fuel prices that rose due to geopolitical tensions and are now returning to pre-crisis levels. According to Baltpool’s calculations, biofuel has become cheaper this year by 40 percent, from 38.9 to 23.58 euros per MWh (megawatt hour). These numbers are confirmed by VERT.

Also, according to M. Taparauskas, the price of heat this year was similar to the heating season of 2021-2022, and should remain similar in the future.

“If there are no unforeseen disruptions in the market, some undefined with other circumstances, which condition the operation of the biofuel market, such as a decrease in supply and demand, the price of biofuel and the price of heating should remain at a similar level,” said M. Taparauskas.

According to him, after the increase in natural gas prices last year, companies started looking for more polluting alternatives, started burning fuel oil and other types of fuel. However, this year, according to VERT, 75 percent heat companies again extract from biofuel, the rest from natural gas.

According to M. Taparauskas, during the last heating season, the city of Utena provided residents with heat the cheapest.

“This (…) was decisive for the fact that they are almost 100 percent. used biofuel in its production. The favorable situation for biofuel in the county – i.e. a forested area, a number of biofuel suppliers, as well as the company’s timely decisions to invest in biofuel-using devices, the use of the cogeneration power plant ensured that the heat price was considered one of the lowest in the country”, explained M. Taparauskas.

Therefore, according to him, those municipalities that used the most natural gas for heat production heated their residents at the highest prices. Biofuel prices, according to VERT, are currently about three times lower than natural gas.

Natural gas prices will remain at a similar level

According to the head of VERT, Renato Pociaus, due to a more stable market, the currently forecasted price of natural gas should reach around 30 euros per MWh (megawatt hour) for the second half of the year.

“There are no longer such (natural gas – ELTA) price fluctuations in the market, at least they are not forecast for today. Of course, no one knows what might happen before the end of the year, what geopolitical things might happen, but (…) prices are more or less predictable and do not fluctuate very much,” said R. Pocius.

“We forecast that the tariffs that are valid today and set for the second quarter of 2024 will remain at a similar level and will not change,” added the head of VERT.

According to him, the smallest population group consuming up to 300 cubic meters of natural gas, who use it for food production and other household purposes, currently pays 1.05 euros per cubic meter of gas. Consumers who use a little more and heat their homes with gas pay about 59 cents per cubic meter.

According to R. Pociaus, these prices should not change in the second half of this year. The market regulators will still have to approve them, and they plan to do so this month.

The public price of electricity in the market will decrease

This week, VERT also determined the price of electricity in the market for the second half of this year. According to the regulator, it should be lower and reach 83.53 euros per MWh (megawatt hour) or 8.353 cents per kWh (kilowatt hour).

According to VERT’s calculations, electricity should cost 14.53 percent in the second half of this year. less than in the first part of 2024. Now, according to VERT, its price is 9.753 cents per kWh or 97.53 euros per MWh.

Also on Thursday, VERT approved the upper limit of the public electricity price of the independent supplier “Ignitis” for household consumers for the second half of this year.

According to VERT, the public price of electricity will be approximately 8-12 percent from July. lower, depending on the voltage of the power grid. When purchasing electricity from medium voltage networks, the price with VAT will reach 12.544 ct/kWh (1.757 cents less than now), while the upper limit of the price of low voltage (LV) networks is set at 19.221 ct/kWh with VAT (1.757 cents less).