At this time of year and it's starting to get cold, the issue of electricity prices is important for Swedes, especially those who live in houses and pay their electricity bills separately. For those who live in apartments in Sweden, the price of electricity plays less of a role as it constitutes a smaller part of the cost of housing.
Sigvardsson expects Swedish electricity prices to be higher from Monday to Wednesday than during last week’s price records, he told Svenska Dagbladet. He said the forecast was for almost no wind in Germany.
"Monday to Wednesday look set to be even more expensive than the prices we saw last week, as it looks set to be completely windless in Germany."
Johan Sigvardsson, analyst at Bixia, to Svenska Dagbladet
Southern Sweden is hardest hit, according to Dagens Nyheter. Sweden has four electricity price areas: the north produces more power than it needs, but limits on transmission to the south can lead to different prices, according to Svenska kraftnät, the national grid operator. With almost half of Nordic nuclear power shut down, restricted transmission between electricity areas has left the south more dependent on imports, whose prices have been pushed up by high gas prices in neighbouring countries.
In the southern electricity area known as SE4, Nord Pool’s average price reached 3.20 kronor ($0.326; £0.243) per kilowatt-hour on Friday, Dagens Nyheter reported. The area covers Skåne, Blekinge, Halland, Kronoberg and Kalmar. Its average so far in November was almost 3 kronor ($0.306; £0.228) per kilowatt-hour, a new high for the year, the newspaper said.
Prices are also high in SE3, the electricity area that includes Stockholm and Gothenburg, according to Dagens Nyheter. In the northern areas SE1 and SE2, November averages were 0.17 kronor ($0.0173; £0.0129) and 0.11 kronor ($0.0112; £0.00835) per kilowatt-hour respectively, Nord Pool figures reported by the newspaper show. A large electricity surplus is pushing prices down in the north, the newspaper said.
Several nuclear plants are scheduled to restart in November after unexpectedly long maintenance and repair periods, Dagens Nyheter reported. The additional supply in southern Sweden is likely to dampen prices in SE3 and SE4, the newspaper said.
"If you know supply will improve further ahead, you can use what you have in storage today, and then gas prices will fall."
Johan Sigvardsson, analyst at Bixia, to Svenska Dagbladet
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