No matter how sunny it is and how fast the solar panel surface in the Netherlands is expanding, a heat wave does not mean that the prices of electricity and gas fall. This has also been shown again last week. As the heat wave started, gas prices rose slightly.
Now that the end of the heat wave is in sight, the prices of gas and electricity tend to fall again.
Year after year more air conditioners
Contrary to what you might expect, solar panels do not produce optimally during a heat wave. Above 25 degrees, the efficiency decreases quickly. So that much extra supply of electricity, produced by solar panels, was not added, despite the large number of hours of sunshine. Moreover, during a heat wave, the power consumption increases considerably due to the use of air conditioners. So extra gas has to be burned to meet the extra demand for electricity. Nobody knows how quickly power consumption increases as a result of the rapidly increasing use of air conditioners. The fact is that the use of air conditioners by citizens and companies in the Netherlands is increasing year on year.
Hot summers, especially warm winters
There is thus a remarkable parallel between the increase in solar energy production and the use of air conditioners. Heat waves cause, no matter how sunny it is and how fast the solar panel surface grows, on balance in the summer for extra CO2 emissions. And global warming is going even faster than expected, climate scientists say after this August week with an unprecedented average maximum temperature of 33 degrees (at the KNMI in De Bilt).
However, global warming also means warmer winters, and that has a much more reducing effect on CO2 emissions than the increase due to hotter summers. Warm winters and hot summers can therefore have a significant impact on the renewable energy market.
Summer rest on the energy market
The weather is currently one of the few factors in the energy market that can cause a price difference. Strangely enough, the disappearance of the current unprecedented heat wave can cause the supply of sustainable energy to increase. Both wind energy and solar energy. From wind energy because more unstable weather with westerly winds usually leads to higher wind speeds than during heat waves. And from solar energy because they produce optimally at a temperature of 25 degrees.
Effect of weak dollar limited for now
Heat waves therefore provide dynamism on the market for sustainable energy during vacation time. The holiday season is traditionally a period that provides peace of mind on the energy market. Once the holidays are over, the dynamism is likely to pick up again quickly.
In recent weeks, the sharp fall in value of the dollar against the euro caused movement in the energy market, but despite the fact that the dollar's decline is expected to continue, at first sight this will not lead to major changes in energy flows.
Agricultural diesel unchanged 90 cents
The oil price remains stable to slightly rising. This translates into a price of agricultural diesel that is currently rounded off at 90 cents per litre. The price of agricultural diesel has hardly changed since mid-June.
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