Energie: Sonnenfinsternis lässt Strompreis in Deutschland stark ansteigen

On Wednesday evening, a solar eclipse cast the Moon in between the Earth and the Sun, causing a significant impact on Germany's electricity prices. The eclipse led to a substantially diminished amount of solar energy production, resulting in the electricity price for Wednesday evening being several times higher than the average level.

European electricity exchange EPEX's spot prices, which are prices for short-term fourteenth-hour electricity volumes, reached over 400 Euros per Megawatt-hour during Wednesday evening. The wholesale electricity price started at 210 Euros between 19 and 19:15, skyrocketed to about 460 Euros between 19:45 and 20:00, and then dropped to around 230 Euros per Megawatt-hour by sunset.

The prices are determined for the following day in the Day-Ahead-Auction, where power suppliers and consumers submit their supply and demand volumes, from which the price per quarter-hour of the day is calculated. While the stock market typically experiences normal fluctuations, there are no extreme price swings without a solar eclipse.

High temperatures and low water levels have already put pressure on the electricity market this summer, causing some individual reactors or entire power plants to go offline due to insufficient cooling water in rivers. During midday, the scenario is favorable due to abundant solar energy capacity, with negative spot prices and higher payments for large consumers to consume electricity.

Since many people primarily use electrical appliances in the evening, spot prices are usually highest at this time. However, such a pronounced increase in electricity prices due to the solar eclipse is rare. The last time electricity prices were this high was on June 30th when a Megawatt-hour cost more than 530 Euros during the evening. For private individuals with fixed electricity contracts, these price fluctuations have no impact.