323
European electricity prices tumble into negative territory amid glut of green energy
(markets.businessinsider.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023
323 points (99.4% liked)
Green Energy
2193 readers
140 users here now
everything about energy production
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Wait, this is a good thing, right?
It basicly shows that renewables are able to produce more power then electricity demand at times. That means more electricity storage, flexible demand and a better grid is needed to use the currently wasted electricity. Especially the flexible demand is something a lot of other green technologies provide, like for example heat pumps having kind of built in storage with a hot water tank and evs have batteries anyway.
Basicly good news, but a long way to go.
Still, finally. Some actual good news. As little as it may be, it's something. That better than what we see most days.
Sorta. Without good transmission and storage systems, producers will curtail their production and feel less inclined to invest in renewables since it'll occasionally generate losses for them
That's the problem with private generators feeding into a grid. If this was a co-op, public utility or other form of monopoly, easily idled generators like wind or solar are added or removed as required to balance the grid without consideration for whether particular units are profitable. An idled unit is also not wearing out.
As it is, there are all sorts of additional rules added to ensure that individual sources aren't too heavily penalized when their particular technology isn't profitable, like perfect wind conditions making thermal plants operate at a loss. That puts rates up for everyone.