It sounds strange, but it is an increasingly frequent phenomenon in Europe as renewable energy expands.
In 2025, the economy in Germany started in a way that might leave some people confused: the energy price below zero.
It happened – again – on the first trading day of the year, on Thursday, January 2nd.
It was verified during four hours, advance to . And it was verified because wind energy production reached 40 gigawatts, vastly surpassing the proxy.
It seems strange but, in fact, it is an increasingly common phenomenon. frequent in Europe, as renewable energy expand.
Germany installed more solar capacity than consumer demand requires. There is more supply than demand.
I already had it last year. Over the course of 10 days in May, solar producers had to accept a 87% price reduction during production hours. During this period, when production reached its peak, prices fell well below zero.
On average, the price received was approximately 9 euros per megawatt-hour, significantly below the 70.6 euros paid during hours without solar energy.
It is a consequence of rapid growth in wind and solar capacitywhich boosted production: “This is what happens to energy prices when the volume of unregulated energy becomes equal to or greater than demand: the prices collapse when unregulated energy produces more”, the Swedish bank wrote at the time.
In the specific case of Germany, in 2024 there was an increase of 468 hours in energy prices below zero, 60% more than in the previous year. Already in France, hours below zero more than doubled, to 356h. Also in 2024, Spain recorded negative prices for the first time.
And yes, it also came to Portugal: At the beginning of April, for the first time, there were hours with negative prices.
Translating, remembered the , there are producers available to pay to continue operating and not stop injecting electricity into the grid.
There are politicians who already defend less subsidies, to ensure that producers receive a minimum fee even when energy is not needed.
