Germany Power Prices Turn Deeply Negative on Renewables Surge

Railway and tram electric cables in Berlin.

Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Germany’s power prices slid on Easter Monday as a surge in renewable energy collided with unusually weak demand, sending electricity costs to deeply negative levels.

Intraday power prices plunged to as low as -€323.96 a megawatt-hour at 3 p.m. local time, according to Epex Spot data. France saw a similar trend, with prices dropping to -€230.31 a megawatt-hour at 2 p.m. The extreme conditions were driven by a combination of strong solar and wind output alongside reduced consumption during the Easter holiday period, when industrial and commercial activity slowed down.