Low holiday demand and strong wind generation pushed the price of electricity in Germany below zero, while wholesale prices in France, Denmark and Britain went negative for several hours.
On December 24, the day-ahead price for electricity in Germany fell to $-3.72 per megawatt-hour, according to data from the Paris electricity exchange Epex Spot SE. As of Wednesday, the first business day after Christmas, the contract was $67.34.
Negative prices are becoming increasingly common as more weather-dependent renewable energy becomes available across the continent. Germany's wind power production is expected to remain strong for the rest of the week, peaking at more than 50 gigawatts on Friday, according to Bloomberg's wind model. On December 21, the country's wind energy production reached a record 53 gigawatts.
Sub-zero prices are what awaits European markets if the flow of planned renewable energy production does not meet a change in demand.
According to exchange data, in the UK on December 24, prices fell to $-11.84 per megawatt-hour, and on December 25 they became negative in France – $-13.21 and Denmark – $-9.46 .