Mild temperatures, sunny skies and strong winds are boosting renewable energy production across central and west Europe.
The UK, France and Italy are all expected to be warmer- and windier-than-normal over the next few days, data from Atmospheric G2 show. Combined solar and wind generation for Germany is set to average about 49 gigawatts on Saturday, the highest level since February last year, according to Bloomberg models and actual output data.
With the warmer days trimming heating demands, central Europe and especially Germany, could see an oversupply of renewables, with forecaster MetDesk estimating “around 20 gigawatts of managed wind curtailment” on Saturday.
A jump in solar generation sent European power prices tumbling below zero. While cheap power is good news for consumers in the short term, it poses a problem for some renewable generators who cannot earn a profit during peak generation.
Power contracts for delivery Saturday in Germany were below zero for 6 hours between 10:00 a.m. and 4 p.m. according to data from Epex Spot SE. The overall day-ahead price dropped to their lowest this year.
Elsewhere in Europe, average temperatures in London could rise as high as 11.4C on Friday, about 5C above the 30-year normal. Paris, could experience 14C, nearly 6C above normal.
Source: Bloomberg