Belgian wholesale electricity prices briefly turned negative on Sunday.
An excess of electricity across Europe triggered this unprecedented situation.
This surplus drove rates paid by energy providers and large consumers into the negative realm for ‘day-ahead’ electricity – power purchased one day in advance.
Weather conditions and European surplus lead to price slump
The prices remained negative from 4 am to 7 pm, except for an hour between 12 pm and 1 pm when energy was free, data from Epex Spot power exchange showed.
The lowest point occurred from 3 pm to 4 pm, with customers receiving up to 120 euros per megawatt-hour drawn from the network.
As a result, the day’s average price was -2.35 euros per megawatt-hour.
Energy trader Matthias Detremmerie attributed this decline to a convergence of factors.
“Mild weather, abundant sunshine, and wind created an electricity glut throughout Europe during a holiday period,” he said.
According to him, countries usually mitigate their electricity surplus through neighbouring nations.
However, on this day, these neighbours, like the Netherlands, intensified the situation by listing their day-ahead price at -500 euros per megawatt-hour for several hours.
For Monday, the day-ahead prices exhibited a modest increase, with only slight negative rates between 2 pm and 4 pm (-4.99 and -1.04 euros per MWh). The average cost stands at 58.38 euros per megawatt-hour.
