RES cuts from the beginning of the year have now exceeded 500 GWh, while curtailments have been milder from June onwards, the latest data has shown.
Wholesale prices ranging between nearly-zero and negative levels were recorded over a total of 166 hours from January 1 to yesterday, an analysis of power grid operator IPTO data by Green Tank, an independent, non-profit environmental think tank, has shown.
These curtailments, necessary as a result of a number of factors, including the inability of existing grid infrastructures to handle the decentralised and variable nature of RES units, supply and demand imbalances, as well as energy storage limitations, are causing turmoil in the market, both for investors and banks.
According to the Green Tank analysis, RES cuts from January 1 until yesterday totaled 515 GWh, 126 percent higher than the total RES cuts recorded during all of 2023, which reached 228 GWh.
RES cuts this year began in March, totaling 49 GWh for the month, before rising sharply to 259 GWh in April, falling to 122 GWh in May, and 64 GWh in June. RES cuts during the first 22 days of July reached 21 GWh, the Green Tank analysis showed.
Negative wholesale electricity prices, prompted by increased renewable energy contributions to energy mixes that are subsequently lowering energy production cost averages, have become a widespread issue affecting markets in various parts of the world, as has just been highlighted by Eren Cam, an electricity market analyst at IEA, energypress.eu reports.
