Sunny weather keeps the market in its grip. On the one hand, a lot of solar energy is being generated at the moment, but at the same time the air conditioners are running at full speed. In addition, this week the Ministry of Economy and Climate presented a roadmap for the storage of electricity.
The electricity price this week remained in the pattern of May and early June. On Tuesday, June 6, electricity traded for €81,24. On Sunday, June 11, the electricity price fell to the lowest price of the week, at €47,20. On Monday, the electricity price peaked at €93,43.
The sunny weather keeps the market in its grip. Due to the high yields from solar power, the share of gas in our energy mix fell to around 18% last week. Currently, gas is responsible for only 18,1% of the electricity mix. Last week, coal-fired power stations were even switched off completely.
The high yields are offset by higher electricity consumption. Because due to the high temperatures, the Dutch air conditioners are currently blowing loudly. The higher consumption prevents a sharper decline in the price of electricity. This can also be seen in the graph, because during the week the electricity price is twice as high as at the weekend. The electricity price is usually slightly lower during the weekend, but due to the high consumption of air conditioning in offices, the difference is currently greater than usual.
However, the impact of air conditioning consumption is not too bad and this has everything to do with the strong growth in the number of solar collectors. Because air conditioners run when the sun shines the strongest, a large part of the solar power is used directly. A large part of the additional solar power generated would have disappeared without the use of air conditioning. When so much solar power is generated that there is no end user, solar panels are disconnected from the power grid. In other words, a large part of the electricity used for air conditioning would not be generated.
The Netherlands is investing in energy storage
However, the high consumption of air conditioning did not prevent solar panels from being switched off for several hours. Storing electricity therefore remains one of the most important topics in the energy transition. The Dutch government is busy working on the theme, according to a recent press release from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. Last week, the ministry shared its new roadmap for energy storage with the House of Representatives.
It is not yet clear what exactly the storage should look like. The government is currently in discussions with grid operator Tennett about this. The government is considering, among other things, an obligation for energy storage at solar parks and has already reserved €416,6 million for this. In addition, the ministry believes it can make a lot of profit from storage at local level. For example, battery use at neighborhood level is being considered. Energy storage through electric cars is also being investigated.
Hydrogen also plays a leading role, although few details are known about this yet. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management will soon present a joint long-term vision for hydrogen storage in gas fields. €125 million has currently been reserved for this purpose.