The expert named the reasons for the decline in electricity prices in European countries

Fluctuations in electricity prices in European countries are the flip side of the market system, where the cost of energy depends on the ratio of supply and demand, Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Foundation and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia on March 3.

Also on Monday, the agency Bloomberg reported that electricity prices have dropped below zero in the Netherlands and Belgium.

"The deregulated electricity market in Europe was created to encourage investment. However, such a system leads to sharp price fluctuations, which can be inconvenient for consumers. In some periods, electricity prices can be extremely low, while in others they can skyrocket to record levels," Mitrakhovich explained.

He noted that the price of electricity strongly depends on weather conditions, which affect the production of energy from renewable sources. For example, in winter, when there is little sun and windless weather, energy production decreases, which leads to higher prices. However, closer to spring, when the weather gets warmer and solar and wind power plants operate more efficiently, electricity prices may drop sharply.

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"Now, for example, in sunny weather, energy production has increased, and electricity prices have fallen so much that in some cases they have become negative. This is due to the need to ensure priority access to renewable energy sources, which forces gas plants to reduce production and even pay extra for it," the specialist added.

He stressed that such price fluctuations are a characteristic feature of a deregulated market and occur annually.

"This is not an optimal situation for industry, especially energy-intensive industries. It is extremely difficult to plan investments in such conditions, as prices can change dramatically in just a few days," the expert noted.

In his opinion, European countries should think about changing the model of regulation of the energy market in order to avoid sharp price spikes.

"Although Europe prides itself on the fact that electricity prices can be zero or even negative on certain days, it is impossible to build stable production on this. This is their choice, but it may be worth reviewing our approaches," Mitrakhovich concluded.

Earlier, on January 13, Alice Weidel, chairman of the Alternative for Germany party, candidate for chancellor of Germany, stated that in the country href="https://iz.ru/1821172/2025-01-13/predsedatel-adg-nazvala-tceny-na-elektroenergiiu-v-germanii-samymi-vysokimi-v-mire"> the world's highest prices in the energy sector, Berlin buys nuclear energy from Paris, and power outages in Germany will continue. The politician stressed that an industrial state cannot live like this.

Later, on February 16, The Economist newspaper reported that Europe is "greedily" eyeing Russian gas. For example, the candidate for chancellor of Germany, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz said that he "cannot rule out the possibility" of returning to gas purchases in Russia.

The Focus publication reported on February 14 that gas reserves in German storage facilities are being used up faster than usual. So, on February 5, large reservoirs in the country were filled by 46.97%, which is the worst result since 2017.