News Digest Item
02 Sep 2016

“Negative price spikes on power markets – The role of energy policy”

Rhineland-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research

High electricity feed-in from renewables increases the chance of negative power prices, according to a new study by Rhineland-Westphalia Institute for Economic Research (RWI Essen). “Reaching ambitious renewable energy targets increases the frequency of low-price events and compromises the financial viability of conventional generation units, while a nuclear phase-out or an increase in storage capacities mitigates these effects,” write the authors. When power prices at the electricity exchange fall below zero, power suppliers have to pay their customers to buy electric energy.

Read the press release in German here and the full report in English here.

For more information read the CLEW factsheet Why power prices turn negative.

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