(April 27): German power prices plunged to record lows on Sunday as solar generation surged and mild weather curbed weekend demand.
The hourly price from 1pm to 2pm fell to -€413.77 per MWh on the Epex Spot SE exchange. In neighbouring France, they dropped as low as -€412.55 for the same period.
Negative prices are becoming more frequent in Europe’s power market following a vast solar build-out in recent years. They underscore a structural challenge: insufficient storage and grid bottlenecks mean the system cannot absorb all the electricity produced, forcing some solar parks to shut down temporarily.
While prices slumped during the sunniest hours, they rebounded sharply in the evening. Lion Hirth, a professor of energy policy at Hertie School, said in a LinkedIn post that such volatility highlights the failure to make the power system more flexible.
Clear skies across much of Europe boosted solar generation to as high as 44GW at noon in Germany on Sunday. At the same time, relatively mild spring temperatures helped improve solar panel efficiency compared with hotter summer conditions that can reduce performance.
See also: Supply crunch threatens US need for 106 gigawatts of new power
Cloudier skies are forecast for northwest and central Europe over the next few days but sunny skies are set to return later this week.
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