Negative electricity prices are on the rise in Switzerland
Published: Monday, Jul 29th 2024, 12:20
Volver a Live Feed
Negative market prices for electricity on certain days at certain hours are nothing new. "They typically occur on Sundays and public holidays and at lunchtime, i.e. when electricity consumption is low and electricity production is high," the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies (VSE) told the news agency AWP.
If the supply of renewable energy is "too high", negative prices can occur. This is particularly the case if the weather deviates from the forecasts, i.e. if the sun shines much stronger or there is much more wind than expected the day before. This is because the day before the weather forecast is used to plan how many other power plants will have to run in order to cover the forecast demand. If the weather forecasts deviate significantly, too much electricity will be produced the next day if demand matches the forecasts.
Volatility is increasing in European short-term trading, says Andy Sommer from Axpo. The European electricity market recorded a significant increase in the number of hours with negative prices in the first half of 2024, particularly in the second quarter. According to the expert, low demand due to the economic situation is meeting a growing supply of electricity from wind, solar, hydro and French nuclear power plants.
Already over 200 negative hours
According to BKW, negative electricity prices would mainly result from high electricity production from solar power. "While the phenomenon is not yet occurring in Italy and is similar in Germany to 2019/2020, it has intensified in France and Switzerland since 2023 with increased solar expansion." In Germany, the market with the highest installed solar capacity, attempts are increasingly being made to adjust the operation of thermal power plants in order to avoid negative prices. However, these power plants are not arbitrarily flexible and require a certain amount of time to ramp up.
According to Alpiq, the number of hours with negative prices in Switzerland has increased significantly this year, from less than 100 per year to over 200 hours this year. The pattern has also changed: "While negative prices previously only occurred at weekends and on public holidays, this year there were also negative prices during the week and on working days."
With the further expansion of solar energy and wind power, the days and hours on which negative prices occur are likely to become more frequent. The phenomenon "will intensify as long as it is not possible to switch off PV systems on a large scale or use the electricity for other purposes", according to Repower. It refers to the possibilities of storage and shifting consumption as well as power-to-X (i.e. the production of gas using electricity, for example).
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic