The electricity price was slightly higher at the beginning of the week. Production costs were higher due to a lower yield from renewable sources. The fact that the price fell later in the week was mainly due to a lower gas price. In addition, Noord-Holland is starting an experiment for the application of hydrogen to agricultural companies.
The electricity price was quite high at the beginning of the week, but dropped significantly towards the weekend. On Tuesday, June 20, electricity traded for €119,91. Until June 22, the electricity price rose to €125,26. The electricity price then fell to €25 until Sunday, June 74,76.
The falling electricity price was partly the result of lower gas prices. Since Tuesday, June 20, the TTF quotation has fallen from €38,71 per megawatt hour to a price of around €32,50. Due to the higher gas price, the supply of LNG to Europe has increased again. In addition, we continue to see European gas reserves increasing rapidly. This is still mainly due to lower gas consumption. In the period from 2019 to 2021, approximately 90 million cubic meters of gas was consumed per day in the Netherlands. The average demand has now decreased to 63 cubic meters per day.
The electricity market could use this support because this week the production of renewable energy fell from around 70% to just under 50%. The production of solar power in particular fell sharply from 44,6% to 32,9%. Due to the low power from renewable sources, the coal-fired power stations were switched on again this week. As if the share of coal-fired power stations in the energy mix was less than 1% due to the lower gas price.
North Holland is investing in hydrogen
The province of North Holland is working on the application of hydrogen within the agricultural sector. On July 6, the province will start a field lab, a hotspot for hydrogen innovations within the sector. All investments are intended to gain knowledge about the application of hydrogen on agricultural companies. The intention is for hydrogen to take over the role of diesel. The hydrogen within the project comes from a wind turbine and solar panels from a nearby flower bulb company. This will test whether hydrogen can be used to prevent grid congestion.