L R AS Published on Monday 13 April 2020 - n° 317 - Categories:other France
Negative electricity prices in France over the last four Sundays
For the fourth consecutive Sunday in France, on 5 April, the price of electricity was negative between 13:00 and 16:30 on the Spot Epex market. At the lowest point, the rate was - €21.06. This means that the electricity suppliers
pay to inject their energy into the grid. This is the consequence of good weather and reduced electricity consumption due to the confinement. Production plants (nuclear, gas or hydraulic) cannot reduce their output quickly, while demand has fallen by 15 to 25% in France, Spain and Italy.
This phenomenon affects all European countries, England, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.
Renewable energy generators are steadily increasing, which increases the imbalance in the market since they benefit from priority injection and a guaranteed feed-in tariff. It is not in the interest of these RE electricity producers to reduce their production. In France, the phenomenon is still limited because wind and photovoltaic energy only represent 8% of the energy mix and 12% of the electricity consumed in France. Thus, the more wind turbines and solar panels are deployed, the more negative prices there will be in France.
Les Echos of 7 April
