L R AS Published on Thursday 5 September 2019 - n° 288 - Categories:electricity companies
Photovoltaic energy is already cheaper than the average price of electricity on the spot market in Europe.
Photovoltaic energy is already cheaper than the average price of electricity on the spot market in Europe.
The average discounted average cost of energy (LCOE) produced by large-scale photovoltaic projects currently ranges from €24/MWh in southern Spain to €42/MWh in Finland, with a capital cost of 7% per year. This is cheaper than
the price of electricity on the spot markets in several European markets, which are €47 / MWh in Finland and €57 / MWh in Spain. Photovoltaic energy is competitive on the free market in six countries through bilateral sales contracts or direct sales of energy on the spot market, according to ETIP PV.
The price of energy during the day is expected to fall as the share of solar energy in the energy mix increases.
The price of energy in Malaga currently reaches 39 € / MWh with 1 kWh / kWp storage, and 54 € / MWh with 2 kWh/kWp. This level is competitive compared to the average electricity price in the spot markets of Rome and Malaga.
https://www.pv-magazine.fr/2019/09/03/le-lcoe-solaire-est-moins-eleve-que-le-prix-de-lelectricite-sur-le-marche-spot-en-europe/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pip.3189
PV Magazine of 3 September
NDLR That the photovoltaic universe is moving fast, or that scientists are evolving in their analyses! All of a sudden we find that the cost of solar electricity is much lower than the spot market, i.e. the cost of surplus electricity. This raises the two questions: how serious is ETIP PV? Why is it that solar power is cheaper than the spot market and that we have not been warned of the trend?
If this is true, it is a major change in the relationship between solar electricity and conventional electricity supply. Indeed, it is one thing to say that the solar kWh is cheaper than the kWh from gas (for example); it is another to say that the producer of the kWh is selling its production on the market. But on the market, as you sell a surplus, you try to make a profit, but as energy is not storable, as soon as you can sell it above zero, it's almost a profit! And we compare this to the cost price of solar energy!
