Why are some hours extremely cheap or even negative?

Extremely cheap or negative prices

With dynamic tariffs you may encounter hours where prices are extremely low, or even negative. That sounds odd, but there’s a logical explanation.

When does electricity become very cheap?

• When there is a lot of wind or solar production.
• When demand is low (for example at night or during quiet weekends).
• When conventional power plants cannot quickly ramp down.

How can prices be negative?

With negative prices, there is so much supply that producers effectively pay to get rid of their electricity. This mostly happens in markets with a lot of renewable energy.

What does this mean for you?

• You can run appliances in hours where power is extremely cheap.
• With an EV or home battery you can literally “stock up” on energy when the market has a surplus.

In the Leafy Energy app we highlight these hours so you can easily use them in your automations and charging strategies.