2556 EUR/MWh: hot summer night pushes power price to record highs

Those who smartly direct their energy consumption do not have to pay the price. But they can earn from it.

On Monday evening, June 30, Belgian energy market imbalance prices peaked to an unseen 2556.62 EUR/MWh. A hot summer evening when air conditioning systems were switched on en masse? Around 4 p.m., the British grid operator adjusted its forecasts and cut power supply to Belgium by 1 gigawatt. That drop caused an acute shortage on the Belgian grid. The imbalance between supply and demand had to be met locally, and it was done at particularly high fees.

What exactly happened?

On hot days, electricity consumption more often shifts to the evening, when the sun is shining less and solar panels are barely producing. Air conditioners run at full speed and households consume more power at the same time. If the actual demand at that time is higher than predicted, an imbalance is created on the grid. To restore that balance, grid operators resort to balancing services, resulting in sky-high prices on the imbalance market.

Without a flexibility strategy, you're at the mercy of price spikes. And you will see this immediately on your energy bill.

How can we deal with this?

In an energy system increasingly pressured by peak consumption and surpluses at other times, energy flexibility is becoming increasingly valuable. From oversupply on sunny afternoons to peak consumption on balmy evenings: those who smartly tune their energy consumption respond to both extremes.

Those who have solar panels, a home battery or a smart charging station, and have them controlled through an smart energy management system (EMS+) such as FlexiO from LIFEPOWR, can shift consumption to cheaper times, store or inject energy at the right time, and avoid grid consumption during expensive peak hours.

In this way, you do not only avoid high costs, you actively help to keep the electricity grid in balance. Every flexible kilowatt counts: by collectively switching smarter, the grid becomes more stable and the energy transition more feasible.

"We are evolving from being classic energy users to being active players in the energy market," says Dries Bols, CEO and founder of LIFEPOWR. "Flexibility is not only about avoiding costs during peak times, but also about taking advantage of low or even negative prices. But for that it is not enough to have solar panels or a battery, you have to drive these smartly. Only those who actively manage their energy really get value out of what they generate, store or consume themselves."

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