European electricity prices are swinging wildly from daytime to evening as the Iran war’s disruption to gas supplies accentuates growing volatility in Europe’s power markets amid the rise of renewables.
Wholesale prices in markets such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are rising and falling by hundreds of euros per megawatt hour over the course of an afternoon, data from Montel Analytics shows, as abundant electricity from solar panels is replaced by gas-fired power as the sun goes down. Prices then slump again as the evening peak passes.
On March 4, day-ahead prices in Denmark swung from €26 per MWh at 2pm to almost €430 at 5.45pm, less than four hours later. Prices in the Netherlands jumped from €24 to €450 over the same period, with similarly large swings in Belgium and Germany.