Electricity prices in Czechia climb into the hundreds of euros as Germany and neighboring countries face calm winds this week

Electricity prices on European spot markets are climbing into the hundreds of euros per megawatt-hour this week. The cause is currently low electricity generation from renewable sources, particularly wind power in western Europe and, above all, Germany. Low supply on the interconnected European electricity market is also pushing up prices in the Czech Republic. For today’s evening peak, prices in the Czech market have reached as high as 800 EUR/MWh.

European short-term electricity markets are becoming increasingly volatile as the share of renewables grows. While local markets have faced a record number of zero or even negative prices this year, they are similarly exposed to the risk of high prices. This week is a case in point, especially today.

Europe is experiencing very low electricity generation from wind power this week. Around midday, solar power is still helping to keep prices at relatively reasonable levels, but its output drops rapidly during the morning and evening peaks as the days grow shorter.

Early in the week, electricity prices for evening hours climbed to nearly 500 EUR/MWh on the Czech market. For today, specifically during the evening peak between 17:00 and 19:00, they reached almost 800 EUR/MWh. In neighboring Germany, they rose several dozen euros higher still. An overview of spot electricity prices across Europe is available in the interactive map in the Energostat module.

Markets are currently under pressure from low electricity generation from wind power. According to the forecast by German transmission system operators, wind generation there is expected to be only in the low hundreds of MW by this evening. Germany’s installed onshore and offshore wind capacity is already approaching 70 GW.