"It is high for May, surpassed only by the crisis year of May 2022," says Johan Sigvardsson, electricity price analyst at Bixia.
So far in May (up to and including the 14th), the electricity price is close to one krona per kilowatt hour (kWh) in southernmost Sweden, slightly lower in electricity area 3 (Svealand and northern Götaland). More unusually, the price is also high in Norrland, almost 70 öre, according to prices on the Nord Pool electricity exchange.
"The reason is the weak hydrology - the low water availability - that we have been struggling with since the low-precipitation winter," says Sigvardsson.
Connection to Europe
This leads to less electricity from hydropower, and what is produced is more expensive. When several nuclear reactors are currently shut down for annual maintenance, the price effect becomes particularly clear.
"With the weak hydrology, hydropower is forced to limit its production despite the high electricity prices. Sweden as a whole is then forced to limit exports to the south and has a stronger price coupling with the rest of Europe, where electricity prices are higher," says Christian Holtz, electricity analyst at the consulting firm Merlin & Metis.
The high price of gas on the continent, used for electricity production in Germany among other places, is linked to the war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Higher prices
On the other hand, more and more solar power means that electricity prices frequently fall into the red in the middle of the day, only to rise again in the evening. The price differences are extreme. And for those who can control their consumption, there is money to be made.
Johan Sigvardsson raises another warning flag for even higher electricity prices in the future.
"We may have a super El Niño in the works this summer and fall, which will bring heat - increasing the need for electricity-guzzling air conditioning - and drought. There are clearly risks of even higher prices because of that," says Sigvardsson.
Now the electricity price itself is far from the entire electricity bill. On top of the exchange-traded electricity price, there is electricity tax, VAT and an electricity network fee of well over one krona per kWh.
