The average price of electricity this Friday, April 17, 2026, rises, although very little, standing at 140.86 euros per megawatt hour (euros/MWh) for those consumers who have a regulated or indexed rate in the free market, according to data published by Red Eléctrica. With this increase, electricity is paid 0.01% more expensive, that is, 2 euro cents, which this Thursday April 16, 2026 when its price was 140.84 euros/MWh.
It must be taken into account that the prices that appear here belong to the Voluntary Price for Small Consumers (PVPC) and this means that they are different from those published by the Iberian Energy Market Operator (OMIE) which reflect the cost of electricity in the wholesale market and they are usually lower since they do not include taxes or tolls.
When is electricity cheaper this Friday?
The cheapest hour will be from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with a price of 41.23 euros/MWh. Then, there will be another section in which it is a good time to start up the most consumed appliances, which is the one from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. when the payment will be 41.56 euros/MWh.
When is electricity most expensive this Friday?
The maximum price of electricity will be from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. when it will cost 262.97 euros/MWh. We must also avoid the last sections of the afternoon where there are high-cost slots, such as the one from 8:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. when the price will be 253.39 euros/MWh.
Price of electricity per hour Friday, April 17 (PVPC)
With this increase in the price of electricity, the difference in amounts between the different sections changes compared to Thursday, so it is good to check the price of electricity hour by hour during the 24 sections of the day. This is possible thanks to the following graph and list prepared with the PVPC data published by Red Eléctrica.
- 00:00 to 01:00: 153.46 euros/MWh
- 01:00 to 02:00: 148.94 euros/MWh
- 02:00 to 03:00: 142.87 euros/MWh
- 03:00 to 04:00: 135.95 euros/MWh
- 04:00 to 05:00: 134.66 euros/MWh
- 05:00 to 06:00: 141.35 euros/MWh
- 06:00 to 07:00: 148.62 euros/MWh
- 07:00 to 08:00: 163.67 euros/MWh
- 08:00 to 09:00: 186.14 euros/MWh
- 09:00 to 10:00: 134.17 euros/MWh
- 10:00 to 11:00: 133.90 euros/MWh
- 11:00 to 12:00: 110.64 euros/MWh
- 12:00 to 13:00: 110.49 euros/MWh
- 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.: 110.47 euros/MWh
- 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.: 42.04 euros/MWh
- 15:00 to 16:00: 41.23 euros/MWh
- 16:00 to 17:00: 41.56 euros/MWh
- 17:00 to 18:00: 41.85 euros/MWh
- 18:00 to 19:00: 162.54 euros/MWh
- 19:00 to 20:00: 218.78 euros/MWh
- 20:00 to 21:00: 253.39 euros/MWh
- 21:00 to 22:00: 262.97 euros/MWh
- 22:00 to 23:00: 187.88 euros/MWh
- 23:00 to 24:00: 173.09 euros/MWh
Red Eléctrica estimates a cost of more than 600 million in the reinforced operation mode
Red Eléctrica Española (REE) estimates that the reinforced operation mode, in which the electrical system has operated since the blackout on April 28, 2025, has entailed a cost of 666 million euros from May to March 31.
This is 2.12% of the total costs of the Spanish electricity system, which in this period has exceeded 31,349 million euros. REE points out that the cost of the reinforced programming has represented 4.7% of the average final energy price of 77.07 euros/MWh in this period.
For a regulated tariff user, PVPC, with an average consumption of 300 kilowatts per hour, the reinforced operation has had an average cost of 4 cents per day. This is a movement by REE to give more stability to the system, with more use of conventional energy, especially in natural gas combined cycles.