The electricity price this week was lower than in previous weeks. A combination of favorable yields from renewable sources is currently pushing down the wholesale price of electricity. At times, such large amounts of solar and wind energy were generated that the sources were shut down.
The electricity price was relatively low this week. At no time did the price on the EPEX exceed €100. On Tuesday, May 16, electricity traded for €77,84. The rest of the week the electricity price fluctuated approximately between €75 and €90. Until Sunday, May 21, when the electricity price reached the lowest point of the week at €23,48. On Monday, October 22, the electricity price was at the highest level of the week, at €88,48.
The sunny weather puts the electricity price down considerably. Last week, no less than 33,9% of all energy was generated by solar collectors. The time of year has now arrived when the sun takes over from wind as the most important green source. Almost twice as much solar energy is now generated as wind energy. About 17,5% of all electricity came from wind turbines. Including biomass, renewable electricity accounted for 60% of the Dutch electricity supply.
The power from green sources was so high that solar and wind energy on land were even switched off on Saturday. The shutdown is the result of a record yield of 125 million kWh of solar power, around 40% of Dutch electricity demand. Martien Visser of the Dutch Gas Union reports on Twitter that at the summit on Saturday, 160% of the Dutch electricity demand was generated by sun and wind. However, due to disconnection this was actually 125%. The overproduction led to no less than seven hours of negative electricity prices.
Commodity prices are falling sharply
In addition, increasingly lower raw material prices appear to be pushing the electricity price further down. The decline in the price of gas, which is currently responsible for almost 30% of electricity production, seems to have no end in sight. The gas price is currently at its lowest point in almost two years. The gas price has now fallen through the €30 limit twice. The TTF is currently quoted at around €29,54 per megawatt hour.
The price on the coal market also fell sharply. In early April, the price of New Castle Coal was around $200 per ton. Because the Chinese industry is performing less than expected, there is a clear negative on the coal market. The price has now fallen by almost 20% to just above $160 per tonne. The impact of the decline is limited, because due to the low gas price, coal-fired power stations are only used at 25% of their capacity. This means that approximately 3,5% of Dutch electricity is generated by coal-fired power stations.