GB Wholesale Market Summary April 2021
Published May 2021 Aurora offers power market forecasts and market intelligence spanning Europe’s key markets, Australia and the US
Comprehensive Power Power Market Bespoke Market Services Forecast Reports forecasts
Market forecast Power market Aurora can provide ✓ reports ✓ forecast reports ✓ power market forecasts upon Forecast data in Forecast data in request ✓ Excel ✓ Excel
Global energy ✓ Analyst support ✓ market forecast reports
Strategic insight ✓ reports
Regular subscriber ✓ group meetings
✓ Policy updates
✓ Bilateral workshops
✓ Analyst support
Source: Aurora Energy Research 2 Month-on-month Year-on-year Monthly value1 Slide reference(s) E x e c u t i v e change change Power prices + 12.4 + 43.5 66.6 5, 6 £/MWh (23.0%) (188.9%) S u m m a r y Gas prices + 3.1 + 13.8 18.5 7 £/MWh (20.3%) (291.4%) Carbon2 prices + 3.4 + 21.0 56.5 7 ▪ April saw power prices rise to £67/MWh £/tCO2 (6.4%) (58.9%) driven by increased gas and carbon Transmission demand - 2.1 + 3.4 prices 20.8 10 TWh (9.2%) (19.3%) ▪ Monthly transmission power demand in Low carbon3 generation - 1.0 - 0.9 April decreased to 21 TWh due to 10.8 11, 12 warmer temperatures TWh (8.5%) (7.6%) Thermal4 generation + 1.1 + 5.14 ▪ Despite lower demand and higher gas 10.4 11, 12 and carbon prices, thermal generation in TWh (11.8%) (97.7%) April increased to 11 TWh due to lower Carbon emissions + 0.3 + 2.1 renewables output 4.5 14 MtCO2e (7.9%) (85.7%) ▪ Higher thermal generation thus resulted Grid carbon intensity + 33.9 + 84.5 239.9 14 in a rise in emissions to 5 MtCO2e gCO2e/kWh (16.5%) (54.4%) Wind load factors5 24.0 - 16 p.p. - 5 p.p 20 % Wind capture prices5 + 12.2 + 40.6 59.8 22 £/MWh (25.7%) (210.3%)
1) Values averaged over the calendar month. 2) Includes CPS and EU-ETS, the UK-ETS auctions will commence form May 2021. 3) Includes renewables and nuclear generation 4) Includes CCGTs, coal and other fossil plants. 5) Average of onshore and offshore wind Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Thomson Reuters, National Grid, Ofgem, Elexon 3 Agenda
I. System performance
II. Company performance (available to subscribers only)
III. Plant performance
4 1 System performance Half-hourly EPEX spot price for April
1 EPEX spot price Monthly average price in April 2021: £/MWh £66.57/MWh 450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
-50 05-Apr 12-Apr 19-Apr 26-Apr
1) Half-hourly EPEX is the volume-weighted reference price over that half-hour interval, as provided by EPEX Spot
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Thomson Reuters 5 1 System performance Historic monthly average EPEX spot price
Average EPEX spot price1, £/MWh
75
70
65
60 +23%
55
50
45 +189% 40
35
30
25
20 Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Average monthly spot price Annual average spot price x Month-on-month difference x Year-on-year difference 1) Average monthly EPEX is the average over the month of the volume-weighted reference prices for each half-hour interval.
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Thomson Reuters 6 1 System performance Historic fuel prices Gas, Coal and Carbon daily prices
Gas/Coal price Carbon price
£/MWh £/tCO2 30 +6% 60
25 50
20 +20% 40
15 30
10 20
5 10
0 0 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 May-21
Gas Coal Carbon Monthly averages x Month-on-month difference
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Thomson Reuters 7 1 System performance Half-hourly spot prices against half-hourly system margins for April
EPEX spot price1, £/MWh
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
-50 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
Margins2, MW
1) Half-hourly EPEX is the volume-weighted reference price over that half-hour interval, as provided by EPEX Spot. 2) Margins are calculated as the difference between MEL and Demand for each half-hour period. Demand data presented here is Initial Transmission System Demand Out-Turn, and does not include embedded demand. MEL is calculated as the sum of all transmission BM units reporting MEL values in each half-hour. Where a BMU gives multiple values in a half-hour, only the least is taken. Sources: Elexon, National Grid, Thomson Reuters, Aurora Energy Research 8 1 System performance Daily April max and min demand Relative to historic April max and min demand since 20101
Demand2, GW
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0 Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F Sa Su M Tu W Th F
Daily range Historic maximum/minimum 1) Data from previous years is matched to the nearest weekday within the current month, to maintain the weekly demand pattern. 2) Demand data presented here is Initial Transmission System Demand Out-Turn, and does not include embedded demand.
Sources: National Grid, Aurora Energy Research 9 1 System performance Monthly historical demand on the transmission system
Total demand1, TWh
34
32
30
28
26
24 -9%
22
20 +19% 18
16 Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Total monthly demand Annual average demand x Month-on-month difference x Year-on-year difference 1) Demand data presented here is Initial Transmission System Demand Out-Turn, and includes station transformer load, pumped storage demand and interconnector demand, but does not include embedded demand.
Sources: National Grid, Aurora Energy Research 10 1 System performance Monthly fuel mix breakdown
Output1 TWh
22 1.6 0.2 21.1 1% 20 1.7 7% 18 1.8 8% 2.0 9% 16 2.1 9% 14 10% 12 3.7 100% 10 17% 8.1 8 6 4 38% 2 0 CCGT Nuclear Other fossil Offshore Onshore Other Solar Coal Total Wind Wind2 renewables3 Load factor, % 41 53 35 28 20 45 17 5
1) Includes outputs from generators registered as BM Units as well as embedded wind and solar PV assets. All numbers are rounded to 0.1 TWh which means that subtotals may not sum to total value. 2) Other fossil includes oil, CHP-CCGT and OCGT. 3) Other renewables includes biomass and hydro. Sources: Elexon, Sheffield Solar, National Grid, Aurora Energy Research 11 1 System performance Historical fuel mix breakdown
Output1 % of total
100% 1% 1% 5% 6% 5% 6% 7% 6% 0% 10% 8% 6% 8% 1% 6% 10% 90% 11% 7% 4% 6% 9% 10% 14% 80% 6% 6% 5% 10% 17% 11% 9% 18% 7% 8% 6% 7% 70% 15% 13% 47% 38% 8% 6% 7% 8% 19% 9% 60% 10% 10% 50% 39% 46% 10% 43% 40% 38% 37% 40% 35% 24% 31% 38% 20% 30% 25% 10% 2% 2% 1% 20% 1% 1% 26% 24% 22% 23% 23% 22% 24% 23% 21% 23% 10% 19% 17%
0% Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- Apr- 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Nuclear Coal CCGT Other fossil2 Other renewables3 Onshore Wind Offshore Wind Solar 1) Includes outputs from generators registered as BM Units as well as embedded wind and solar PV. 2) Other fossil includes oil, CHP-CCGT and OCGT. 3) Other renewables includes biomass and hydro.
Sources: Elexon, Sheffield Solar, National Grid, Aurora Energy Research 12 1 System performance Monthly interconnector flow duration curve Flow in each half-hour for GB interconnectors
Flow1, MW
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
-500
-1,000
-1,500
-2,000
Time Half-hours I/C France I/C Netherlands I/C N. Ireland I/C Rep. Ireland I/C Belgium 1) Positive flow is imports into GB, negative flow is exports.
Sources: Elexon, National Grid, Aurora Energy Research 13 1 System performance Monthly emissions by technology
Emissions1 Carbon intensity
MtCO2e gCO2e/kWh +54% 6 5.8 300
+8% 5 250 4.6 4.5 4.2 4 3.8 3.8 3.7 3.7 200 3.6 3.4
3 2.9 150 2.4 2.1 2 100
1 50
0 0 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21
Biomass Other fossil2 CCGT Coal System carbon intensity x Month-on-month emissions difference x Year-on-year carbon intensity difference 1) Please refer to Appendix for details of methodology employed to calculate emission amounts. Includes all Balancing Mechanism plants. 2) Other fossil includes oil, OCGT and gas CHP-CCGT.
Sources: Elexon, Ofgem, Aurora Energy Research 14 Agenda
I. System performance
II. Company performance (available to subscribers only)
III. Plant performance
15 Agenda
I. System performance
II. Company performance (available to subscribers only)
III. Plant performance
16 3 Plant Performance Plant utilisation – load factors by plant
Load factor1 Column width % reflects capacity
100
90
80
70
60
50
40 Ø 35 30
20
10
0
-10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 Capacity, GW Biomass Coal Hydro Nuclear Offshore Wind Onshore Wind Solar CCGT Gas CHP-CCGT Interconnector OCGT Oil Pumped Storage 1) Represents 60 plants with highest capacity according to the Balancing Mechanism (BM) database, as well as aggregated data for wind and solar. Capacity of each plant represents the sum of capacities of all its generators that have been active at least once in the last three months. Please refer to Appendix for a detailed description of the data used and categories presented Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon, BEIS 17 3 Plant Performance CCGT plant utilisation – by plant
Full load hours1 Column width % of total for the period reflects capacity
100
90
82.5 82.3
80 79.2
75.4
74.5 69.2
70 69.0
63.1 61.3
60
51.4 51.3 46.9
50 45.9 40.1
40 38.5
33.3 30.1
30 30.4 20.9
20
15.2
13.0 11.4
10.0 0.0
10 0.0
1.8
1.8
0.6
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 1213 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 31 32 33 29 30 Calon Centrica Drax EDF EPH ESB Intergen Munich Re RWE SSE Uniper Capacity, Plant Names: 1. Marchwood, 2. South Humber Bank, 3. Carrington, 4. Kings Lynn, 5. Didcot B, 6. Pembroke, 7. Spalding, 8. Cottam Dvpt Centre, 9. Staythorpe, 10. Peterhead, 11. Little Barford, 12. Shoreham, 13. Great Yarmouth, 14. Rocksavage, 15. GW Damhead Creek, 16. Coryton, 17. West Burton B, 18. Enfield Energy, 19. Seabank 1, 20. Connahs Quay, 21. Keadby, 22. Seabank 2, 23. Rye House, 24. Medway, 25. Killingholme 2, 26. Corby, 27. Langage, 28. Sutton Bridge, 29. Killingholme 1, 30. Glanford Brigg, 31. Peterborough, 32. Severn, 33. Baglan Bay. 1) Includes all CCGT plants of the presented companies that report to the Balancing Mechanism
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon 18 3 Plant performance Coal plant utilisation – by plant
Full load hours1 Column width % of total for the period reflects capacity
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20 12.5 10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0 2 4 6 1 2 3 4 Capacity, Drax EDF SIMEC Uniper GW
Plant Names: 1. Ratcliffe, 2. West Burton, 3. Uskmouth, 4. Drax Coal. 1) Includes all coal plants of the presented companies that report to the Balancing Mechanism
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon 19 3 Plant performance Monthly load factors by technology
Average load factor1 %
60
40
43 20 34 32 34 24 23 22 23 21 28 28 26 20 0 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 60
40 56 52 52 59 20 41 48 45 34 31 36 34 36 28 0 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 30
20
10 17 20 17 16 15 13 12 6 6 9 0 4 2 3 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21
Onshore Wind Onshore Average Offshore Wind Offshore Average Solar Solar Average 1) Includes outputs from generators registered as BM Units as well as embedded wind and solar PV
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon, Crown Estate 20 3 Plant performance Wind farm utilisation – load factor by wind farm
Load factor1 %
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 107 109 108 Offshore Wind Onshore Wind
Plant Names: 1. Gordonstown, 2. Halsary Windfarm, 3. Hywind Scotland, 4. Galloper, 5. Dorenell, 6. East Anglia One, 7. Whiteside Hill, 8. London Array, 9. Cour, 10. Kilbraur, 11. Hornsea 1 , 12. Corriegarth, 13. Aikengall 2, 14. Greater Gabbard, 15. Fallago Rig, 16. Dudgeon, 17. Baillie, 18. Crystal Rig, 19. Sanquhar Community, 20. Hill of Glaschyle, 21. Mid Hill, 22. Brockloch Rig 2, 23. Millennium, 24. Rampion, 25. Coire Na Cloiche, 26. An Suidhe, 27. Carraig Gheal, 28. Aberdeen, 29. Gordonbush, 30. Westermost Rough, 31. Bad a Cheo, 32. Humber, 33. Auchrobert, 34. Rothes Extension, 35. Gunfleet Sands, 36. Thanet, 37. Sheringham Shoals, 38. Lincs, 39. Blackcraig, 40. Strathy North, 41. Camster, 42. Beatrice, 43. Race Bank, 44. Assel Valley, 45. Farr, 46. A Chruach, 47. Stronelairg, 48. Glens of Foudland, 49. Galawhistle, 50. Burn of Whilk, 51. Beinneun, 52. Andershaw, 53. Berry Burn, 54. Minsca, 55. Bhlaraidh, 56. Dalswinton, 57. Gwynt y Mor, 58. Dunmaglass, 59. Tullymurdoch, 60. West of Duddon Sands, 61. Clashindarroch, 62. Pen y Cymoedd, 63. Freasdail, 64. Burbo Extension, 65. Edinbane, 66. Beinn Tharsuinn, 67. Kilgallioch, 68. Embedded Wind, 69. Walney, 70. Glen App, 71. Robin Rigg, 72. Corriemoillie, 73. Burbo Bank, 74. Griffin, 75. Beinn An Tuirc , 76. Hill of Towie, 77. Tullo, 78. Barrow, 79. Toddleburn, 80. Tullo Extension, 81. Braes of Doune, 82. Ormonde, 83. Dersalloch, 84. Lochluichart, 85. Clyde, 86. Harburnhead, 87. Minnygap, 88. Goole Fields, 89. Ewe Hill, 90. Kype Muir, 91. Walney Extension, 92. Arecleoch, 93. Hare Hill Extension, 94. Craig, 95. Mark Hill, 96. Whitelee, 97. Harestanes, 98. Dun Law Extension, 99. Hadyard Hill, 100. Black Law, 101. Airies, 102. Moy, 103. Glenchamber, 104. Afton, 105. Clachan Flats, 106. Middle Muir, 107. Keith Hill, 108. Kincardine, 109. Brownieleys.
1) Represents UK wind farms reporting Balancing Mechanism Unit data. Figures presented reflect Final Physical Notification (FPN) expectations reported to the grid, which are not always representative of actual production
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon, Crown Estate 21 3 Plant performance Wind capture price versus baseload price
Price £/MWh 75 +210% +26% 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20 Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20 Jan-21 Feb-21 Mar-21 Apr-21 Wind load factors %
24 23 22 23 21 28 28 34 32 26 43 34 20
34 31 36 34 36 41 56 52 52 48 59 45 28
Baseload1 Wind Capture 2 x Month-on-month difference x Year-on-year difference 1) Baseload price is the average monthly EPEX price; 2) Wind capture price is the load-weighted monthly average EPEX price across all wind Balancing Mechanism plants for all half-hourly periods
Sources: Aurora Energy Research, Elexon, Thomson Reuters 22 Appendix
Data used
▪ Output values used in this summary reflect the sum of Final Physical Notifications (FPN) submitted by all BM Units of a given plant that have been active over the last three months. ▪ Capacity values used in this summary reflect the sum of capacities of individual BM Units, as reported to the Balancing Mechanism, that have been active over the last three months. They reflect long-term capacities and exclude temporary fluctuations due e.g. to plant failures or scheduled maintenance. ▪ Prices used in this summary are the EPEX half-hourly Reference Prices for half-hourly, two-hourly and four-hourly spot products.
Categories presented
▪ Full-load hours represent the plants’ load factors, calculated as the ratio of the output produced in a given month to the maximum possible output given the plants’ capacity. ▪ Running hours represent the proportion of time in a given month when a plant has been active, i.e. when at least one of its BM Units produced output greater than zero. ▪ Capture prices (or average output-weighted prices) are calculated as an average of EPEX half-hourly prices per MWh weighted by the plants’ corresponding half-hourly outputs for all periods. ▪ Average gross margins are calculated as a sum of the uplift and inframarginal rent. Uplift is calculated as the difference between the EPEX price and the system marginal cost (SMC). SMC is the maximum marginal cost of all the plants with at least one generator producing above 80% of its installed capacity in a given half-hour. ▪ Emissions are calculated as plant output divided by electrical efficiency, multiplied by theoretical carbon content of the fuel input. The carbon content of fuel inputs is sourced from BEIS’s Greenhouse gas reporting – Conversion factors 2016. System carbon intensity is calculated as the total emission divided by total electricity generated.
Source: Aurora Energy Research 23 Disclaimer and Copyright
General Disclaimer This document is provided "as is" for your information only and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given by Aurora Energy Research Limited and its subsidiaries Aurora Energy Research GmbH and Aurora Energy Research Pty Ltd (together, "Aurora"), their directors, employees agents or affiliates (together, Aurora’s "Associates") as to its accuracy, reliability or completeness. Aurora and its Associates assume no responsibility, and accept no liability for, any loss arising out of your use of this document. This document is not to be relied upon for any purpose or used in substitution for your own independent investigations and sound judgment. The information contained in this document reflects our beliefs, assumptions, intentions and expectations as of the date of this document and is subject to change. Aurora assumes no obligation, and does not intend, to update this information.
Forward-looking statements This document contains forward-looking statements and information, which reflect Aurora’s current view with respect to future events and financial performance. When used in this document, the words "believes", "expects", "plans", "may", "will", "would", "could", "should", "anticipates", "estimates", "project", "intend" or "outlook" or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Known risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks associated with political events in Europe and elsewhere, contractual risks, creditworthiness of customers, performance of suppliers and management of plant and personnel; risk associated with financial factors such as volatility in exchange rates, increases in interest rates, restrictions on access to capital, and swings in global financial markets; risks associated with domestic and foreign government regulation, including export controls and economic sanctions; and other risks, including litigation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive.
Copyright This document and its content (including, but not limited to, the text, images, graphics and illustrations) is the copyright material of Aurora, unless otherwise stated. This document is confidential and it may not be copied, reproduced, distributed or in any way used for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Aurora.
24