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Europe's solar energy rise hits costs, exposing storage requirements

Europe has actually clocked a. record number of hours of negative power rates this year due to. a mismatch between need and supply as solar energy generation. soars, potentially helping to move investment to much needed. storage options.

Wholesale power markets in most of Europe's key economies. turned out no or negative prices for a record variety of hours. in the first 5 months of this year at times of low demand. That means producers more frequently need to pay to unload. power, or stop their plants.

One could definitely state that, at this moment, success is. consuming its own offspring, Markus Hagel, energy policy professional. at German energy Trianel, told .

Strong hydro and nuclear power generation has actually played some. part in the oversupply, however Europe has also seen a massive. expansion of solar power.

Set up solar capacity in the European Union more than. doubled to 263 GW between 2019 and 2023, according to SolarPower. Europe information. In 2023 alone, that is comparable to an additional. 306,000 photovoltaic panels being set up every day, the group stated.

In the day-ahead market, this has seen more European markets. experience cost drops at the lowest need point in the middle. of the day.

Trianel informed the company has purchased 800. megawatt (MW) of photovoltaic capacity and has a job. pipeline of 2,000 MW but the lower rates are forcing it to. reevaluate how it sells the power.

Solar has actually flourished in part because it no longer required. aids as developers concurred power purchase arrangements (PPAs). with purchasers at fixed terms pegged to wholesale power market. prices.

This permitted a much faster and bigger build-out than previous. capped volume auctions for government-backed payments.

However as rates fall, designers are significantly reversing. to aid plans once again, Hagel stated.

Negative rates are absolutely nothing new for Germany, which hosts. Europe's most significant capability of unstable solar and wind power. generation, however 2024 is the first year Spain is seeing them,. after a number of years of strong solar energy growth.

It is not something that worries us at the moment. What. does stress us is that it will be repeated or can be repeated. gradually, José María González Moya, director general of. eco-friendly lobby APPA Renovables, said, including that brand-new contracts. for PPAs are currently declining.

And yes, in a manner, financial investment is slowing down. Not. stopping, however slowing down, Moya said.

Germany and Spain are still leading the PPA market, Jens. Hollstein, head of advisory at PPA prices platform Pexapark,. stated. However, solar producers were being forced to offer their. power at increasing discount rates to round-the-clock generators.

The margin is getting thinner, Hollstein stated.

He expected a downturn in investments if the advancement. continued.

On the flip-side, the power market is now seeing a bigger. gap between low and high-priced hours, increasing the reward. to purchase storage, he added.

INCREASING BATTERY STORAGE IS KEY

The International Energy Agency (IEA) highlighted the immediate. require for energy storage in an annual report.

Designers who select not to co-locate their wind and solar. PV power parks along with battery storage or other sources of. flexibility might see a drop in prospective revenues during peak. generation-- hindering earnings and dissuading investment, the. IEA wrote.

The EU estimated that energy storage in the bloc will need. to rise more than three-fold from 2022 to 2030, to match. forecasts of a 69% share of renewable resource in its. electricity system by then.

Norwegian renewable energy manufacturer Statkraft, which. runs throughout Europe, has said it could divest some wind and. solar tasks, but would likely keep its battery possessions.

For batteries it will be favorable to have greater. volatility and also unfavorable prices, CEO Birgitte Ringstad. Vartdal stated, as batteries can be charged when costs are low. while output can be offered when prices are high.

That is one of the reasons that versatile jobs will be. attractive, Ringstad Vartdal added.

Besides saving energy in batteries to deal with periods of. excess supply, other alternatives like AI-powered clever grids and. meters might also help consumers optimise their electrical power use.

Domestic end users, afflicted by the rise in energy costs in. the wake of the Ukraine war, have yet to enjoy lower expenses. because typically they are locked into long term agreements.

Just those consumers that have invested in a heatpump, a. charger for their electrical car, or a storage system, have the ability to. take advantage of negative rates, representative for Germany's. association of regional utilities VKU stated.

Those on repaired priced contracts will only feel a favorable. effect from negative power rates once they have pulled down. average market prices over the long term.

(source: Reuters)