On January 19, 2024, Zhejiang Province experienced negative electricity spot market prices, with the lowest reaching -0.2 yuan per kilowatt-hour at one point. The next day, after prices returned to normal, negative prices appeared again.
This phenomenon of negative electricity prices is not new in China. In December 2019, the Shandong electricity spot market saw a clearing price of -0.04 yuan per kilowatt-hour. After the first negative price occurrence nationwide, Shandong experienced multiple instances of negative prices. In December 2022, the spot price on the generation side in Shandong dropped to -0.08 yuan per kilowatt-hour, and during a 48-hour period from May 1 to May 2, 2023, 32 hours had negative prices, with a continuous 21 hours of negative prices, reaching as low as -0.085 yuan per kilowatt-hour. Faced with this, Shandong was helpless and set the market energy declaration price lower limit at -0.08 yuan per kilowatt-hour and the market energy clearing price lower limit at -0.1 yuan per kilowatt-hour, as per the
This is the first time I hear about it. Here is an explanation from an electric power grid after my search: “Negative electricity prices are a manifestation of supply and demand imbalance in the electricity spot market, usually occurring when there is excess renewable energy generation. It reflects real-time supply and demand signals of the power system, especially during holidays or peak renewable energy generation periods, where short-term negative prices may occur.”
