Due to a surge in solar power generation, Europe has seen a record high in the duration of negative electricity prices this year. In the first five months of this year, during periods of low electricity demand, several major European economies experienced record-breaking zero or negative wholesale electricity prices.
According to data from the European Power Exchange (Epex), the Dutch electricity market hit a startling low of -739.96 euros per megawatt-hour at one point during the first five months of this year. Consulting firm Enappsys pointed out that the Dutch grid suddenly saw an influx of 16 gigawatts of renewable electricity, but local demand and export capacity could not fully absorb this amount of power. This situation has far exceeded expectations, and it is anticipated that the market may frequently encounter similar occurrences.
A report from Imperial College London indicated that the UK experienced 214 hours of negative electricity prices in 2023, averaging over half an hour each day. In other words, the root cause is the intermittency of renewable energy generation, leading to periodic oversupply of electricity.
Regions with a high proportion of renewable energy, such as Northern Europe and Germany, are most prone to negative electricity prices. The emergence of negative prices is mainly due to the rapid growth of renewable energy penetration, insufficient flexibility in power systems to adjust power sources, and the lack of storage facilities.
Moreover, traditional power plants incur significant resource consumption each time they shut down and restart generators, so they prefer to encourage their customers to consume excess electricity at lower prices rather than halt production.
However, negative electricity prices do not mean that users can âuse electricity for freeâ or âearn money from electricity bills.â The European Power Exchange primarily serves as a wholesale trading platform between power plants and electricity retailers, and the prices reflect wholesale rates, while ordinary consumers typically pay higher retail rates.
The emergence of negative prices has also accelerated capital market investments in urgently needed storage solutions. The International Energy Agency (IEA) emphasized the urgent need for energy storage in its annual report. The report stated, âIf developers do not co-locate wind and solar PV farms with battery storage or other flexible energy solutions, their potential revenues during peak generation periods may decline, affecting profitability and hindering investment.â
In the capital market, the occurrence of negative prices does not necessarily imply âunfair competition.â When there are tax credit subsidies, negative prices may be reasonable. For renewable energy sources with near-zero operating costs and per-unit subsidies, even negative bids can still recover marginal costs.
To make room for renewable energy, companies like Electricité de France SA, RWE AG, and Vattenfall sometimes reduce generation or even shut down plants. By lowering generation costs and promoting investments in battery storage technology, the future development of the clean energy sector will be propelled, providing strong momentum for the gradual replacement of traditional energy with clean energy.
In the context of frequent negative electricity prices, the ccarbon Foundation generates carbon points through the collection and analysis of users' low-carbon behaviors in daily life, providing economic incentives. The electricity generated by small solar and wind generators is also included in the scope of ccarbon's certifiable low-carbon behaviors. Additionally, as a participant in the climate tech finance industry, ccarbon balances interests between individual energy consumers and institutions through profitable transactions in the wholesale electricity market, further promoting a societal shift toward low-carbon living.
The ccarbon Foundation actively explores the application of blockchain technology in clean energy, particularly in the innovation of real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and decentralized finance (DeFi) services. Our goal is to ensure the security and compliance of clean energy assets, mitigating uncertainties and risks in the clean energy market. We are also committed to developing and trading carbon offset projects, helping businesses and society achieve carbon neutrality. The occurrence of negative prices provides new opportunities for promoting carbon offset projects.
The frequent appearance of negative electricity prices brings new challenges and opportunities to the electricity market. Although the current power system faces adjustment inadequacies when dealing with large amounts of renewable energy, this also provides a significant boost to the development of storage technologies. In the future, the ccarbon Foundation will continue to explore feasible solutions for the gradual replacement of traditional energy with clean energy, achieving sustainable economic and industrial development.
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