Swedish electricity prices hit three-month high

The increase is partly due to a lack of wind causing low production from wind power, and rising gas prices pushing up costs in Germany, which affects electricity prices in southern Sweden.

"The heatwave in large areas of Europe is keeping electricity use at a high level, now that air conditioning is on full blast," said Björn Björnson, electricity analyst at electricity company Godel.

On Monday morning, wind power produced just two percent of Swedish electricity, compared to an average of 20 percent.

And now coal prices are also rising, since the German government announced this weekend that coal-powered power plants should increase production to compensate for the lack of Russian gas. On Monday alone, coal prices rose by between 7 and 8 percent, energy analyst Johan Sigvardsson from energy trading company Bixia told TT newswire.

Expensive for the rest of the year

According to Sigvardsson, Swedish consumers should get used to high prices - at least from now until the end of the year. Trading for future electricity contracts stands at around one krona per kWh between July and August, with this increasing to 1:44 kronor in the fourth quarter this year - and these prices cover the whole of the Nordic region, which usually means prices will be noticeably higher in southern Sweden.

Lower water levels in southern Norway are also making a difference, as it hasn't been possible for hydroelectric power plants to generate as much electricity as usual.

During the past weekend, the situation was conpletely different. On Saturday, the average price of electricity was 10 öre per kWh in all four of Sweden's electricity zones - the lowest in Europe, with the exception of northern Norway.

Windy weather kept the wind turbines going, which contributed towards lower prices. At the same time, electricity almost always costs less on weekends, when usage is lower.

The final price of electricity for the consumer consists of the base price of electricity on the Nordpool power market, plus energy company fees, tax, VAT and electricity grid fees.