Patterns and correlations in European electricity prices

Abstract

Electricity markets are central to the coordination of power generation and demand. The European power system is divided into several bidding zones, each having an individual electricity market price. While individual price time series have been intensively studied in recent years, spatiotemporal aspects have received little attention. This article provides a comprehensive data-centric analysis of the patterns and correlations of the European day-ahead electricity prices between 2019 and 2023, characteristically abnormal due to the energy crisis in Europe. We identify the dominant communities of bidding zones and show that spatial differences can be described with very few principal components. Most bidding zones in Continental Europe were brought together during the energy crisis: Correlations increased, and the number of relevant principal components decreased. Opposite effects occur in the Nordic countries and the Iberian Peninsula where correlations decrease and communities fragment.