What is behind the extreme price of electricity on the market?

I became interested in this topic especially with the current astronomical electricity prices, which we can follow on the European Energy Exchange (EEX). I am quite surprised that the Czech Republic has been suspiciously quiet on this topic so far, as it will also affect us directly. So what is behind the current extreme prices on the electricity market?

The energy market

The first thing to consider is how the electricity grid actually works. Consumption cannot be accurately predicted in advance, so generation is constantly being adjusted accordingly. In our country, this is regulated by CEPS (Czech Electricity Transmission System), which instructs certain power stations to increase or decrease their output. These tend to be gas or coal-fired power stations, which are idle for most of the year because of their expensive operation.

The ones that are most used to generate electricity are those that produce it cheapest, which are solar, wind or…