Power Prices Drop Below Zero as Solar Output Surges in Europe

Power prices in Europe fell below zero again as production from solar farms overwhelms the grid early in the afternoon.

(Bloomberg) — Power prices in Europe fell below zero again as production from solar farms overwhelms the grid early in the afternoon.

It’s an increasingly common phenomenon as Europe races to build more cheap solar farms to cut demand for fossil fuels. Intraday power prices in Germany, Europe’s biggest power market, turned negative from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to data from Epex Spot SE.

The latest plunge follows record low levels reached over the weekend. While Saturdays and Sundays are more likely to get negative power prices because demand is lower, it’s unusual during the middle of the work week.

Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands are set to get more negative prices tomorrow as well.

Without a significant shift in demand profiles, negative prices will only become more common. Europe is set to install as much as 60 gigawatts of new panels in 2023, up by a third from last year’s record, according to research from HSBC Holdings Plc. That could create an opportunity for consumers to use more energy in the middle of the day to charge cars and run their business at the cheapest and greenest times.

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