Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on electric energy load and pricing in the Iberian electricity market

Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has established itself has one of the biggest health crises facing humanity. Countries all around the world were forced to adopt unprecedented restrictive measures in order to halt the spread of the virus and safeguard public health. These measures have profoundly changed the way of life and severely affected practically all sectors of activity, with major demand and supply shocks, leading to one of the largest recessions in world history. An essential pillar to the proper functioning of modern societies is energy security, particularly electricity security, which guarantees a reliable and efficient supply of electricity. Energy distributors and utility companies remained operational during mandatory stay-at-home orders, to ensure an uninterrupted power supply. Given the relevant role of energy in society, this work will study the consequences of the economic shutdown on the Iberian electricity market, and discuss the timeline of events, the macroeconomic outlook, the financial status of the major electric utility companies (prior to being hit by the COVID-19 health pandemic), the changes in load profile, the generation mix and, finally, the electricity market spot prices.