On September 23, Cailian News (Editor Xiaoxiang) reported that globally, most people still pay a fixed electricity price - the cost per kilowatt-hour remains constant throughout the day. This price is set by power companies and is usually changed once a week, month, or even several years.

However, with the passing of the EU electricity market reform act earlier this year, individuals will also have the right to sign fixed price contracts and dynamic price contracts. Many electricity retailers in Europe are increasingly launching packages that charge customers based on real-time wholesale prices.

Tibber, a Norwegian-based electricity retailer, is one of them. Currently, they have signed dynamic pricing power contracts with over 1 million households in the Nordic countries, Germany, and the Netherlands.

And this is also leading to a scene that was previously unimaginable, which is now starting to happen repeatedly: when consumers use electricity, they often make money instead...

Taking advantage of negative electricity prices: Can you make money by charging your car?

During most of the spring and summer this year, Dutch resident Jeroen van Diesen earned a 'reward' by using electricity.

Van Diesen, who is normally a software salesman, recently signed contracts with two power suppliers who charge based on hourly prices in the Dutch wholesale electricity market, rather than fixed prices set on a monthly or yearly basis. When the electricity price drops low enough, his smart meter starts charging his two electric cars.

Usually, wholesale prices fluctuate dramatically throughout the 24 hours of a day, and with the increasing share of wind energy and solar energy generation equipment in recent years, the magnitude of fluctuations will be even greater. Because the generation cost of wind energy or solar energy power plants can be negligible, when renewable energy power is sufficient to meet the majority of a region's power demand, market prices will approach zero.

Considering the high cost of frequent unit shutdowns, many power generation companies, when faced with a situation of oversupply, will significantly reduce quotes and make sure to sell the electricity, sometimes even willing to pay some money themselves (many governments also provide substantial subsidies for green energy), in order to continue operating and connecting to the grid by all means necessary, which frequently leads to negative electricity prices.

And Van Diesen is obviously someone who has successfully taken advantage of negative electricity prices.

According to his statement, in the past five months, he has actually earned 30 euros (equivalent to about 236 yuan) by charging his two cars, which is enough to offset the service fees he has to pay to the electricity supplier Tibber. Van Diesen pointed out, 'I'm essentially charging my car for free.'

Van Diesen explained that he is currently a member of a clean energy enthusiast group in the Netherlands called 'green nerds', and their equipment can monitor their own power consumption. 'For me, this is also like a hobby and a game - how far can I go (without spending money)?'

(Van Diesen's automated software 'magic weapon' for taking advantage of negative electricity prices)

Negative electricity prices are becoming more and more common.

Van Diesen's situation actually reflects a 'strange' new dynamic in the electricity market, and this new dynamic may soon become the norm in many parts of the world.

The substantial increase in wind and solar power generation has pushed down the wholesale electricity prices to zero or lower for many periods throughout the year, resulting in significant changes in people's electricity consumption habits - playing with electricity prices based on sunlight or wind strength.

Maybe you should do laundry at night? When demand weakens and wind power strengthens, you can use electricity for free. Similarly, in areas with abundant solar energy resources, charging electric vehicles in the morning is usually much more expensive than charging under the midday sun.

According to data collected by Entso-E, the European transmission system operator group, 6% of the time this year, wholesale electricity prices in the entire European continent were at or below zero (negative electricity prices), a significant increase compared to 2.2% in 2023 and 0.3% in 2022.

In markets with a large amount of renewable energy, the above numbers are even higher: 8% in the Netherlands, 11% in Finland, and 12% in Spain. Analysts predict that with the installation of more solar panels and wind turbines, the proportion of negative electricity prices will continue to increase.

(Germany has already experienced over 500 hours of negative electricity prices this year.)

In the United States, most states currently do not allow this real-time pricing model, but many believe that this situation will change.

Due to the energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the enthusiasm for energy transformation has accelerated the changes in the European electricity market in recent years, indicating that similar situations may also occur in the United States in the coming years as the capacity of renewable energy reaches a similar scale. In 2023, 44% of the European Union's electricity comes from renewable sources, compared to 21% in the United States.

In some electricity markets in the United States, such as sunny California, windy Great Plains, and Texas, zero or negative electricity prices are already quite common. This year, wholesale electricity prices in Southern California were negative for nearly 20% of the time, thanks to the proliferation of solar panel installations in the area. According to data collected by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, this proportion was only about 5% last year.

For a long time, US regulatory agencies have been cautious about allowing households and companies to sign electricity contracts at wholesale prices. They are concerned that if prices soar, consumers may receive huge bills. In 2021, a rare winter storm caused electricity prices to skyrocket, and Texas consumers who signed such contracts were hit with massive bills.

However, as policymakers increasingly see real-time pricing as a way to reduce peak demand, decrease reliance on expensive infrastructure, and incorporate more renewable energy into the grid, the reluctance of states may be weakening. California regulators have ordered the state's utilities to expand dynamic pricing pilot programs, which were previously only available to select customers.

The global electricity market is undergoing a major transformation.

In Europe, some large electricity-consuming companies are changing their operational strategies, maximizing electricity consumption when prices are close to zero or negative, and reducing consumption when prices are high.

Linde, a global leader in industrial gases and engineering, is currently building next-generation industrial gas plants that can quickly increase or decrease power generation based on wholesale electricity prices.

When solar and wind power drive down electricity prices, Linde's plants will start and deliver output to large storage tanks. When prices spike again, the plants can reduce production and supply gas to customers from the tanks. 'It's like a virtual battery,' says Klaus Ohlig, Linde's head of research and development.

Aluminum producer Trimet is one of the largest electricity consumers in Germany, and the company is currently transforming its smelters to adjust its power consumption based on the availability of renewable energy in the grid.

Undoubtedly, the global electricity market undergoing a major transformation in the transition to green energy has also increased the necessity of energy storage development. Many industry insiders say that the pace of infrastructure renewal in Europe's power grid is far behind the development of renewable energy, and there is insufficient investment in the power grid to meet the demand for renewable energy generation.

Antonio Delgado Rigal, CEO of the Spanish consulting firm "AleaSoft Energy Forecasting", recently called for an expansion of the scale of energy storage technology application to enhance demand response and increase the electrification level of industries, transportation, heating, and other sectors in order to maintain the profitability of renewable energy projects.

Statkraft, a Norwegian renewable energy company, has also recently pointed out that battery energy storage projects can profit from peak-valley price differences, making flexible renewable energy projects more attractive.