Netherlands registers record number of negative energy prices
The Netherlands recorded more negative energy price hours over the first eight months of this year than it did throughout 2024. Dutch research firm Stratergy says the correlation between solar production and negative price hours is “becoming increasingly strong.”
Image: Fer Troulik/Unsplash
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The Netherlands registered 474 hours with negative electricity prices over the first eight months of 2025, according to figures from Dutch consultancy Stratergy. The figure surpasses the number of negative price hours in the Netherlands across 2024, which reached 458.
Jan Willem Zwang, an analyst for Stratergy, told pv magazine there were 127 negative price hours in June alone, followed by 12 in July. “The main reason for this large difference is the lower amount of solar generation,” Zwang said. “The correlation with solar production is becoming increasingly strong.”
Temperature is another factor that impacts the number of negative price hours, Zwang’s analysis found. He explained demand for cooling rises during higher temperatures, while the efficiency of both solar panels and fossil power plants decreases.
The average of the negative price hours recorded up to the end of August stands at -€14.05 (-$16.47)/MWh, compared to a full average of -€18.60/MWh across 2024.
This year’s figures to date represent a continuing trend in the Dutch energy market. In 2024, the number of negative price areas surpassed the total recorded throughout 2023 by mid-August.
Zwang said that the growing number of hours with negative prices shows good working of the market design and offers not just challenges, but also opportunities. “Parties that organize flexibility and can forecast accurately will be able to capture significant value,” he explained.
When asked by pv magazine how the Netherlands can best deal with the uptick in negative price hours, Zwang suggested an increase in demand flexibility, the leveraging of batteries, electrolysers and thermal storage to absorb surplus power, and the managing of the supply via coordinated curtailment and flexible power purchase agreements.
The trend observed in the Netherlands is also visible in other European energy markets. Germany had logged 453 hours of negative day-ahead prices as of Aug. 24 this year, surpassing the total recorded throughout 2024.