Negative prices for electricity: a holiday for traders, but not for households

Sun and hurricane winds They did what a few years ago it would seem like science fiction: they fell wholesale price for electricity in Greece below zero.

Moreover – at eight hours in a row! From 9 a.m. to 5 pm on Sunday, Megavatt -hour was estimated at the minimum -12.92 euros, and the average price of the day was 53 euros. And all this – against the background of peaks of 138 euros recorded at other hours of day.

The script was the same day earlier, on Saturday August 9: falling to -1 euros/MW · h. On Friday, on the 8th, negative or zero values were held for seven hours in a row, and the minimum mark was symbolic -0.01 euros. Monday, August 11, also did not stand aside: the average wholesale price is 73.92 euros, a maximum of 209.4 euros, the minimum -again -0.01.

What does this mean and for whom the minus is in hand

At such hours, the picture looks absurd: Manufacturers pay to give energy to the networkand suppliers and large consumers … receive money for its consumption. Black Friday for kilowatt hours.

But there are no miracles for households here. As before, negative prices in wholesale trade do not reach the payments of ordinary citizens – tariffs to end consumers remain the same. This paradox is a consequence of the features of the Greek market, where margin and fixed allowances make zero on the exchange almost invisible in the score for light.

Why this happened

Blessed – both the sun and the wind. For three days, the wind in places accelerated to 8 points on the box scale, and solar activity was at the peak. As a result The share of renewable energy sources In energy balance on Sunday, it reached 64%. A huge influx of “green” kilowatt in low demand (summer, air conditioners are almost not turned on) created ideal conditions for a price collapse.

Paradox: the more Greece pumps green energy to the network, the cheaper it becomes on the exchange – but this almost does not affect the wallet of a simple consumer. So the sunny and windy “gift” this summer is a pleasant bonus except for energy traders.

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