We must not recreate the wrong market model

摘要

The more the wind blows and the sun shines, the more electricity is fed into the market, driving down prices as demand is saturated. Low prices might sound like good news for electricity customers, but for generators they are anything but. Even wind producers with no fuel costs need to pay off their loans and turn a profit. Periods of very low or negative prices occur ever more frequently in energy markets where marginal cost sets the price and renewables' content is growing, such as Denmark and Germany. The marginal cost of energy reflects the cost of generation here and now; it excludes the lifetime capital and running costs of the plant. Wind turbine owners in Denmark are feeling the pinch. The more wind production there is, the less they earn.