Price spike (at the cap)
Research notes
Figures are for London unless they say otherwise.
What happened
- Wed 13 Nov: London peaked at 35.0p at 16:30 (Agile's 35p cap), average 13.2p, lowest 6.5p at 03:30; highest anywhere 35.0p in Eastern England.
Likely causes
- Wed 13 Nov, 16:30 (London's peak): wind 4.1GW (9% of supply), solar 0GW, gas 23.1GW (50%), imports 3.7GW, total supply 45.8GW. Over the day wind averaged 4.5GW; the 2019 average was 6.7GW (20%). Source: NESO historic generation mix. (figures confirmed by source; link to prices is inference)
- The peak came in the early evening on Wed 13 Nov, when demand is highest and there is no solar. (inference)
- Elexon market index: Wed 13 Nov averaged £48.00/MWh with a high of £62.38 at 08:00. Source: Elexon market index, Wed 13 Nov. (confirmed by source; a short-term index, not the day-ahead auction Agile follows)
Wider context that week
- Nothing notable found for that week.
Confidence
Medium. The grid figures fit the prices, but no report found names a cause for this date.
Gaps
- No news report or official write-up found that ties this date to a cause; the causes above are from the data.
- Elexon's system warnings feed has no entries before mid-2023, so warnings for these days couldn't be checked there.