Electricity prices were negative for almost three weeks in Germany last year

Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) reported that 2024 set a record for electricity generation with negative prices. If in 2023 negative prices remained on the wholesale market for 301 hours, then in 2024 electricity prices remained negative for 457 hours.

Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 3.1/3DNews

Also, last year, the exchange price for electricity rarely crossed the critical mark of €0.10 per 1 kWh. The excess was recorded for 2296 hours, whereas a year earlier this was observed for 4106 hours. Thus, the average wholesale price on the day-ahead market decreased by 17.5% year-on-year to €0.07851 per 1 kWh.

The agency also reported that renewables accounted for 59% of net electricity generation in 2024, up 3% from 2023. Fraunhofer ISE analysts determined the share of solar energy in Germany to be slightly higher – at 62.7%. At the same time, the Bundesnetzagentur takes into account only the electricity that entered the network, excluding the own consumption of generator owners.

In 2024, total electricity generation in Germany decreased by 4.2%, amounting to 431.7 TWh. Renewable energy sources produced 254.9 TWh, of which wind power accounted for 111.9 TWh and solar power accounted for 63.3 TWh (compared to 55.7 TWh in 2023). The share of solar systems was 14.7% of generation, and wind installations – almost 26%.

Electricity generation from fossil resources fell by about 11% to 176.8 TWh. Electricity production based on hard coal decreased by 31.2%, brown coal – by 8.8%, while gas generation increased by 8.6%.