Irish wholesale gas prices down 28% year on year

Irish wholesale gas prices have fallen 28 per cent year on year, according to the half-year energy market report by Vayu Energy.

Vayu, which supplies gas to 20 per cent of Ireland’s industrial and commercial market, said the drop in prices was due to strong supplies and pipeline flows from the North Sea, low demand and an overall bearish outlook.

Vayu senior energy analyst Joanne Daly said June had seen volatility return to the UK's NBP gas market – the major source of natural gas purchased in Ireland – due to unplanned North Sea outages, storage facility issues and the uncertainty posed by the UK's referendum on Brexit.

“Volatility tied to these events is likely to continue over the coming weeks,” Ms Daly said. “The prospect of low storage levels is a risk for the winter period.”

Wholesale electricity prices on average have been lower year-on-year, largely due to a fall in the price of gas as well as a large contribution of power generated from renewable sources.

The average wholesale price of electricity for the first half of 2016 was down 29 per cent on the same period in 2015.

The report also says a fifth of total electricity demand in Ireland was met by wind energy so far this year.