Baltic, Energy, Energy Market

Elektrum Lietuva CEO Martynas Giga noted that precipitation levels in the region had been higher than usual since the start of the year.  

"Water levels in hydro power plants' reservoirs had been above the norm since February, and were 45%, or 7 percentage points above the norm, in March," Giga said. 

"Wind power generation capacity decreased oved the month, but was 15% higher than in March last year," he said. 

Demand for electricity was affected by coronavirus quarantine measures in place in the Baltic countries. The region's total power consumption dropped by 3% y-o-y to 2,387 terawatt-hours (TWh), falling by 4% to 1,019 TWh in Lithuania and by 3% in both Latvia and Estonia, according to the company. 

"The introduction of quarantine in Europe led to a decline in demand across all sectors, including energy," it said. "In March, demand for electricity in Europe fell by between 5 and 15%, which was reflected in production capacity and demand for raw materials," Giga said. 

Electricity prices in Nord Pool's Lithuanian bidding area averaged 24 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) in March. Average prices in both Latvia and Estonia fell by 14%, too, to 24.02 euros per MWh.