The European Commission has put the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, on the ropes. The price of electricity for households was 25.7% more expensive in 2021 than that registered in 2018, according to the reports carried out quarterly by the Observatory of Energy Markets.
According to the data from these reports, the average price for the year 2021 amounted to 29.99 euro cents/kWh for households, compared to 23.86 euro cents/kWh in 2018, including fees and taxes.
These data, according to the report, are obtained from semi-annual retail electricity prices and Eurostat consumer price indices.
The data, therefore, assume that the Government failed to meet its commitment that the average electricity bill for Spaniards be in line with those registered in 2018, once the CPI has been discounted.
The President of the Government, in his report on the year in Moncloa, indicated that the measures put in place allowed a cut of about 84 euros in the annual bill, leaving the receipt for 2021 at an average of about 613 euros, compared to 696 euros to which it would have amounted without the decisions to cut taxes and extraordinary measures adopted.
Evolution of the last quarter of 2021
On the other hand, during the fourth quarter of 2021, electricity consumption in Europe returned to pre-2019 pandemic levels, driven by the continued economic recovery and the ease of lockdowns. This post-crisis surge in demand pushed electricity prices to unprecedented levels. The European electricity benchmark index reached an average of 194 euros/MWh in the fourth quarter of 2021, 400% more than in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 85% more than in the third quarter of 2021.
The rebound in gas prices reversed the trend from coal to gas, with coal generation earning despite rising carbon prices in the fourth quarter of 2021. Despite rising levels of fossil generation, the share of renewable energies managed to reach 38%, surpassing fossil fuels (35%) in 2021.
Compared to pre-pandemic levels (2019), renewable generation increased its production by 10% (+90 TWh) in a period in which there was a 6% (-58 TWh) decrease in generation with fossil fuels and 4% (-32 TWh) of nuclear generation. In addition, a new record for installed renewable capacity in the EU was reached in 2021, as 37 GW of solar and wind capacity were added to the system, 20% more than 12 months earlier.
The report also shows that the demand for electric charging vehicles (ECVs) reached new highs in the fourth quarter of 2021, with 25% of newly registered vehicles being ECVs. The 532,000 new ECVs registered in the EU from October to December 2021 – 12% more than in the same period of 2020 – brought the annual sales figure to more than 1.7 million vehicles in 2021.
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