These figures are likely to draw the attention of operators of large battery storage systems. On the first day of this week, sunny and windy conditions combined with low grid load produced additional hours of negative exchange electricity prices, surpassing last year’s record of 453 hours. As of Aug. 24, Germany had recorded 457 hours of negative day-ahead exchange prices.
This trend was evident earlier in the year, with 389 hours logged in the first half. July added another 12 hours, while August has so far contributed 56 hours of negative exchange prices.
The number of hours above €100/MWh has also already exceeded last year’s level. Blackout and crisis preparedness expert Herbert Saurugg analyzed the data for his platform, estimating 2,476 hours above €100/MWh so far this year, compared with 2,310 in 2023. During the energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there were far more peak price phases. Saurugg calculated 7,379 such hours in 2022 and 4,116 in 2023.
For operators of large-scale battery storage, whose margins depend on electricity price spreads, these are favorable conditions. Even as several large storage systems are under construction and being connected to the grid in Germany, the market outlook remains unchanged. Expansion of solar and wind power continues, supported by Federal Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU). RWTH Aachen University’s “Battery Charts” show that about 800 MWh of capacity have been added to large-scale battery storage this year.
Researchers now place total large-scale battery storage capacity at 3.0 gigawatt hours. By comparison, the Market Data Register shows almost 8.65 GW of new solar installed in the first seven months of 2024, lifting cumulative photovoltaic capacity above 109 GW in July.
