High winds helped push Bord Gáis Energy Index down 5pc in February

According to Bord Gáis Energy alomst 23pc of Ireland’s electricity demand in February was met by wind, which helped lower Irish wholesale electricity prices.

“February saw a decrease in the cost of wholesale electricity and gas,” said John Heffernan, gas and power trader at Bord Gáis Energy. “This is as a result of a number of factors, including the unseasonably mild weather, significant volumes of electricity produced by wind in both Ireland and the UK and very weak coal prices.

“February saw a decrease in the cost of wholesale electricity and gas,” said John Heffernan, gas and power trader at Bord Gáis Energy. “This is as a result of a number of factors, including the unseasonably mild weather, significant volumes of electricity produced by wind in both Ireland and the UK and very weak coal prices.

“Since the beginning of March the Ukrainian crisis has had an impact and pushed wholesale gas prices higher. This highlights Europe’s dependency on fuel imports, which exposes the continent to price volatility and places its industries at a competitive disadvantage.

“Looking ahead in terms of oil, influential forecasters expect demand will likely rise more than previously anticipated this year due to a pick-up in European and US economic activity. Both the International Energy Agency and Opec have increased their expectation of global oil demand and interestingly, global oil consumption in January was 1.1 million barrels per day higher than the same time last year.

“Ongoing geopolitical concerns, diminishing global commercial stocks and an erosion of OPEC’s spare capacity contributed to a tight oil market in February which nudged Brent crude prices higher in dollar terms.”

“Since the beginning of March the Ukrainian crisis has had an impact and pushed wholesale gas prices higher. This highlights Europe’s dependency on fuel imports, which exposes the continent to price volatility and places its industries at a competitive disadvantage.

“Looking ahead in terms of oil, influential forecasters expect demand will likely rise more than previously anticipated this year due to a pick-up in European and US economic activity. Both the International Energy Agency and Opec have increased their expectation of global oil demand and interestingly, global oil consumption in January was 1.1 million barrels per day higher than the same time last year.

“Ongoing geopolitical concerns, diminishing global commercial stocks and an erosion of OPEC’s spare capacity contributed to a tight oil market in February which nudged Brent crude prices higher in dollar terms.”