German Power Slips Below Zero as Negative-Price Phenomenon Grows

Onshore wind turbines in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.Photographer: Liesa Johannssen/Bloomberg

German power prices dropped below zero on the first trading day of the year, an increasingly frequent phenomenon in Europe as renewables expand.

Intraday prices in Germany, the region’s biggest market, turned negative during four hours overnight as wind-energy output reached as much as 40 gigawatts, far outstripping demand.

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