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cailianshe news, september 23 (editor: xiaoxiang)globally, most people still pay a fixed electricity price - the cost per kilowatt-hour is constant throughout the day. this price is set by the power company and usually changes every week, month or even every few years.

however, with the passage of the eu electricity market reform bill earlier this year, individuals will also have the right to sign fixed-price contracts and dynamic price contracts. many electricity retailers in europe are increasingly launching packages that charge customers based on real-time wholesale prices.

one of them is norway-based electricity retailer tibber, which has signed up more than 1 million households with dynamically priced electricity contracts in the nordic countries, germany and the netherlands.

this has led to a scene that was unimaginable in the past beginning to repeat itself: when consumers use electricity, they can often make money...

taking advantage of negative electricity prices: can you make money by charging your car?

for much of the spring and summer this year, dutch resident jeroen van diesen was "paid" for his electricity use.

van diesen, a software salesman by trade, recently signed up with two electricity suppliers that charge hourly prices from the dutch wholesale electricity market, rather than fixed prices agreed monthly or annually. when the price drops low enough, his smart meter will start charging his two electric cars.

wholesale prices typically fluctuate wildly throughout the day, but have fluctuated more sharply in recent years as wind and solar power plants have accounted for a growing share of electricity. because the cost of generating electricity from wind or solar farms is negligible, when renewable energy is sufficient to meet most of a region's electricity needs, the market price is close to zero.

considering that the cost of frequently shutting down units is too high, many power generation companies will significantly lower their bids when they encounter a situation of oversupply of electricity and must sell the electricity. sometimes they would rather lose part of the money themselves (many governments also provide large amounts of green energy subsidies) and continue to operate and connect to the grid, so "negative electricity prices" are frequently generated.

and van diesen is obviously the person who successfully "take advantage of the negative electricity prices".

according to him, in the past five months, he has earned 30 euros (equivalent to about 236 yuan) by charging his two cars, which is enough to offset the service fee he needs to pay to electricity supplier tibber. van diesen pointed out, "i am actually charging my car for free."

van diesen said he is currently a member of a group of clean energy enthusiasts in the netherlands who call themselves "green nerds" and that his device can currently monitor his own home's electricity consumption. "for me, this is also like a hobby and a game - how far can i go (without spending money)?

(van diesen's automated software "magic weapon" to take advantage of negative electricity prices)

negative electricity prices are becoming more commonplace

van diesen’s situation reflects a strange new dynamic in electricity markets that may soon become the norm in many parts of the world:

the sharp increase in wind and solar power generation has pushed wholesale electricity prices to zero or lower during many periods of the year, which has led to a huge change in many people's electricity consumption habits - "playing" with electricity prices based on the amount of sunshine or wind.

maybe you should do your laundry in the evening? when demand is lower and the wind is stronger, you can use the electricity for free. similarly, in areas with abundant solar resources, charging an electric car in the morning is usually much more expensive than charging it in the midday sun.

wholesale electricity prices were at or below zero (negative prices) 6% of the time across the continent this year, a sharp increase from 2.2% in 2023 and 0.3% in 2022, according to data collected by entso-e, the european group of transmission system operators.

in markets with large amounts of renewable energy, these numbers are even higher:the netherlands is 8%, finland is 11%, and spain is 12%. analysts expect the proportion of negative electricity prices to grow further as more solar panels and wind turbines are installed.

(germany has had negative electricity prices for more than 500 hours this year)

in the united states, most states do not currently allow this type of real-time pricing charging model, but many believe that this will change.

the energy crisis caused by the russian-ukrainian conflict has accelerated changes in the european electricity market in recent years, suggesting that a similar situation may occur in the united states in the coming years after renewable energy capacity reaches a similar scale. in 2023, 44% of the eu's electricity will come from renewable energy, while the proportion in the united states is 21%.

in some u.s. electricity markets, such as sunny california, the windy great plains and texas, zero and negative electricity prices are already common. wholesale electricity prices in southern california have been negative nearly 20% of the time this year, thanks to the region's boom in solar panel installations. that's up from about 5% last year, according to data collected by the u.s. energy information administration.

u.s. regulators have long been cautious about allowing households and companies to sign electricity contracts that charge wholesale prices. they worry that consumers may receive huge bills if prices jump. in 2021, a rare winter blizzard caused electricity prices to soar, and texas consumers who signed such contracts were hit hard by huge bills.

still, states’ reluctance may now be waning as policymakers increasingly view real-time pricing as a way to reduce peak demand, reduce the need for expensive infrastructure and integrate more renewable energy into the grid. california regulators this year ordered the state’s utilities to expand dynamic pricing pilot programs that had previously been available only to some customers.

big changes in the global electricity market

in europe, some "big electricity consumers" are currently changing their operating strategies to maximize electricity consumption when prices are close to zero or negative, and reduce electricity consumption when prices are high.

a leading global industrial gases and engineering companylindelinde is building a new generation of industrial gas plants that can quickly increase or decrease power generation depending on wholesale electricity prices.

when solar and wind power drive down electricity prices, linde’s plants will start up and send output to large tanks. when electricity prices surge again, the plants can cut production and supply gas to customers from the tanks. “it’s like a virtual battery,” said klaus ohlig, a linde research and development executive.

aluminium producer trimet, one of germany’s biggest electricity users, is also currently converting its smelters to adjust their power consumption according to the availability of renewable energy in the grid.

there is no doubt that the great changes in the global electricity market under the green energy transition have also increased the necessity of energy storage development.many industry insiders said that the speed of updating europe's power grid infrastructure is currently far behind the development of renewable energy, and the scale of power grid investment is also insufficient to meet the demand for renewable energy power generation access.

antonio delgado rigal, ceo of spanish consulting firm aleasoft energy forecasting, recently called for expanding the application of energy storage technology to strengthen demand-side response and increase the level of electrification in industries such as industry, transportation, and heating, thereby maintaining the profitability of renewable energy projects.

norwegian renewable energy company statkraft also recently pointed out that battery energy storage projects can make profits by taking advantage of peak-valley price differences, which will make flexible renewable energy projects more attractive.