I prezzi dell’energia elettrica in Germania diventano profondamente negativi a causa dell’impennata delle energie rinnovabili
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-07/germany-power-prices-turn-deeply-negative-on-renewables-surge
di Krankenitrate
7 commenti
What does that mean? Is it referring to the fact that Germany has to pay renewable plants to offset the surplus they produce due to the lack of sufficient grid infrastructure to utilise the generated power?
Guess who is paying for that. Taxpayers. Via subsidies.
In contrast to what most other people comment, this is a very good thing!
It means that there are enough renewables now that electricity is for free in specific situations. This incentives the building of power storage and flexible power consumption.
In addition, we need to increase renewable production even more so that electricity is free on more hours.
okay I can see it, just copy-pasted the “reader-friendly” view, alls ads preserved:
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bloomberg.com
Germany Power Prices Turn Deeply Negative on Renewables Surge
Eva Brendel
~3 Minuten
April 7, 2026 at 9:55 AM GMT+2
Germany’s power prices slid on Easter Monday as a surge in renewable energy collided with unusually weak demand, sending electricity costs to deeply negative levels.
Intraday power prices plunged to as low as -€323.96 a megawatt-hour at 3 p.m. local time, according to Epex Spot data. France saw a similar trend, with prices dropping to -€230.31 a megawatt-hour at 2 p.m. The extreme conditions were driven by a combination of strong solar and wind output alongside reduced consumption during the Easter holiday period, when industrial and commercial activity slowed down.
“Massive amounts of wind and solar had to be curtailed in Germany to keep the system stable,” said Stephan Späth, meteorologist and power trader at ANE GmbH & Co. KG.
The event underscores the growing challenges of managing increasingly renewable-heavy power systems, where periods of high generation and low demand can produce extreme price volatility. Excess electricity produced during periods of low consumption cannot yet be stored at scale, as battery capacity remains limited.
Why Power Prices Can Go Negative and What It Means: QuickTake
Renewables Cover Most of Germany’s Power Demand
Source: Fraunhofer
Above-average wind speeds meant the clean energy source was covering around 80% of Germany’s power load by Monday morning, according to data from the Fraunhofer Institute. Cloud cover in northeastern Germany cleared faster than expected by early afternoon, allowing solar output to rise more sharply, said Späth. Combined with an already oversupplied market, this led to a rapid escalation in excess generation from around 1 p.m, he said.
The imbalance also triggered a sharp spike in balancing costs. Imbalance fees, charged when actual electricity generation or consumption deviates from contracted levels, fell to -€4,631.99 a megawatt-hour at 2.30 p.m., according to data from Germany’s transmission grid operators. This meant market participants who overproduced relative to forecasts faced high costs.
Lower power demand due to the holidays also played a role. Peak demand reached 48 gigawatts, around 16 gigawatts below a typical working day, according to the Fraunhofer Institute data.
While wind generation is expected to remain more subdued this week, solar output will be strong, with a peak of 53 gigawatts forecast for Tuesday — the highest level this year, according to the data. This means renewables will cover around 90% of power demand at midday, before dropping to about a third in the evening.
So winter is gonna be fine right?
Right?
Good reason for more high capacity batteries on the grid.
This must be a good incentive to build out energy storage. Of course there are bumps when going from one source to another, it’s not like other energy sources are without subsidies. Just look at natural gas after 2022.