Over this season heat supply companies purchase 3.52 TWh of heat at Baltpool auctions

According to data of the online heat auctions administered by the energy exchange operator Baltpool, over this heating season heat supply companies purchased 3.52 TWh of heat. The greatest amounts of heat were purchased by Kaunas (1.03 TWh), Vilnius (0.95 TWh), Klaipėda (0.64 TWh), Panevėžys (0.23 TWh), Visaginas (0.16 TWh) and Alytus (0.15 TWh).

 Baltpool held 7 auctions intended for heat purchase for the winter season, which is from October to the end of April. Heat for heating purposes is purchased at auctions a couple of months in advance; therefore, heat that will be supplied in April was purchased at the auction held at the end of February.

“This was the first heating season in the country when trade in heat was organised via the online trading platform in the conditions of free competition. We will seek to make the new system even more convenient for participants in the forthcoming season,” said Andrius Smaliukas, director general at Baltpool.

 Even fiercer competition in the forthcoming season in the Vilnius heat market

 Compared to the 2017–2018 heating season, Vilnius purchased the required amount of heat for this season for a price that was 26% higher (3.19 ct/kWh). Over the 2018–2019 winter season, Kaunas purchased heat for a considerably lower price, i.e. 2.68 ct/kWh (a 29% increase compared to the previous heating season).

At present, Vilnius and Kaunas each have 10 heat producers. All the heat produced in Vilnius by private heat producers is purchased. The supply of heat produced in Kaunas normally exceeds demand; consequently, the fierce competition of suppliers in Kaunas leads to price reductions. Vilnius Cogeneration Power Plant, which is the largest plant of this type in Eastern Europe, will be launched by the end of this year. Vilnius Cogeneration Power Plant will undoubtedly boost competition in the Vilnius heat market.

The weighted average price of purchased heat amounts to 2.99 ct/kWh

 During the 2018–2019 winter season, the weighted average price of purchased heat in the country was 2.99 ct/kWh. The cheapest heat was purchased by Kėdainiai (1.71 ct/kWh), Joniškis Central Boiler House (2.54 ct/kWh) and Kaunas (2.68 ct/kWh), while the town of Jieznas (4.99 ct/kWh), Joniškis Pakluonis Boiler House (4.30 ct/kWh) and Telšiai Darius and Girėnas Boiler House (4.26 ct/kWh) paid the highest prices.

 It should be noted that the prices in the adjacent boiler houses in Joniškis differ: one of the boiler houses purchases heat at very low prices, whereas the other pays one of the country’s highest prices.