The scene is absurd: French producers provide so much electricity at the moment that it becomes free. It even happens that prices are negative, in other words these same producers pay (!) To consume their energy. This is exactly what is happening. In mid-July, the country had already accumulated 368 hours of negative or zero electricity prices, thus breaking the 2024 record (352 hours), itself already increasing in relation to previous years.
Electricity at negative prices, but an unchanged invoice
The phenomenon is directly linked to the rise of renewable energies, in particular wind and solar. These sources produce electricity intermittently, often out of step with real demand. Result: during weekends or sunny afternoons, production goes far beyond needs. As electricity is not easily stored, prices collapse, as points out Selectra.
The problem comes mainly from renewable installations under purchase obligation contract, summarizes the energy regulation commission (CRE). These contracts guarantee producers a fixed Price for twenty years, even if the market passes into negative territory. In this context, it is more profitable for some producers to continue to inject their electricity, even if it means aggravating the saturation of the network.
For consumers, irony is cruel: electricity can sell at -50 € per megawatt hour on the market, but they continue to pay it around 20 cents per kilowatt hour. The “price signal” does not pass, regrets the crest. Unlike other European countries, such as Spain or Sweden, France has not generalized so -called “dynamic” offers, which follow the timetable variations in the market.
However, these negative prices have a very real cost. When contract producers continue to inject their electricity under these conditions, the State must compensate for the losses. According to the CRE, the cessation of the installations concerned during the hours of negative prices would have saved 15 million euros just in the first half of 2024. And the counter turns even faster this year.
The question of a reform of the renewable support mechanism is therefore increasingly pressing. Several experts believe that the current incitement pushes blind production, without taking into account the real needs of the network … An ubiquitous situation.
However, alternatives exist. The EDF tempo option, or supplier offers like OHM energy and totalnergies, try to introduce a form of pricing flexibility. But these formulas remain marginal and often little readable for the general public.
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