October and November saw upward price pressure in the Dutch electricity market. This was mainly due to the low production of renewable energy sources, giving natural gas a large share in the electricity mix. And that while the gas price – thanks to a multitude of reasons – also trades at a relatively high level. Besides gas, the share of coal in electricity generation is also increasing.
The rise of weather-dependent renewables is at the heart of a changing role of conventional power plants in the energy system. The spark and dark spreads show that power plants are being squeezed out of the market in the longer term, particularly due to the low operating costs of solar and wind. In the shorter term, however, gas and coal plants remain important to meet electricity demand. This is regularly reflected in the dark and spark spreads for shorter-term power contracts.
In addition, this Market Update contains an analysis on the development of the heat pump and its potential impact on the electricity market. Finally, we touch upon the COP29, where financing is again a thorny issue and many countries’ priorities seem to lie elsewhere.