Here in the Netherlands we have some energy companies offering dynamic tariffs. Basically it means that the price is high when the demand is high, and on contrary, the price is low when the demand is low. When the energy supply is greater than the demand the prices can become negative, I.e. -0.05 ct per Kwm
And the negative price is what amazes me. It means you earn money by using electricity. So in theory I can built a giant hamster wheel which will be powered by electricity only when the price is negative, and it will make profit. Free money for doing nothing
Does anybody knows how negative energy prices work?
In: 3
Some machines and systems, you have to keep running: the startup and cooldown cycles are too rough to do more than once or twice in the system’s lifetime. We saw this with oil production in April 2020, when demand crashed due to lockdowns, but the oil wells and pipelines had to keep pumping, or they’d be too hard to restart.
When an power plant is like that, you *have* to keep producing electricity, or you’ll brick the plant. You’re not just indifferent to customers using your electricity, you *need* them to.
Latest Answers