However,
France breaks its electricity record:
Published on 14/07/2025
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Barely mid-July, and France has already broken its annual record of hours at negative or zero electricity prices. Nevertheless, With 368 hours accumulated since the beginning of 2025, the previous 352 -hour record established throughout the year 2024 is already exceeded. Therefore, This phenomenon. In addition, a symptom of an overabundance of renewable production in the face of insufficient demand, transforms what should be good ecological news into a real economic and technical headache. However, Faced with this situation. For example, the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) sounds the alarm and calls for in -depth reforming the mechanisms for supporting renewable energies, deemed unsuitable and expensive for the community. Meanwhile,
Negative price: the paradox of electricity that is paid to be consumed – France breaks its electricity record
How can. Meanwhile, the price of an essential property like electricity become negative? Consequently, france breaks its electricity record This increasingly frequent phenomenon is explained by the very operation of the energy market: electricity storing difficultly on a large scale. For example, the balance between production (supply) and consumption (demand) must be maintained at every moment. Nevertheless, When production is massively exceeding demand, prices drop to negative territory. Furthermore,
This imbalance is today amplified by two factors. However, On the one hand. For example, a massive and intermittent renewable and intermittent renewable energy production (solar and wind), particularly abundant during sunny and winding days of spring and summer. However, On the other, Sometimes very low consumptionespecially on weekends and holidays. However, In these situations, some producers prefer pay to inject their electricity on the network rather than stop their facilities. Additionally, However,
But as the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) underlines in its November 2024 analysis note. the main problem is now from renewable installations benefiting france breaks its electricity record from Purchase obligation contracts (OA). These contracts guarantee them a fixed sales rate, whatever market prices. Having no financial incitement to stop. these producers continue to produce “at all costs”, even when the network is saturated, aggravating the fall in prices and creating what economist Jacques Percebois describes as a completely silly “.
The problem is due essentially to renewables. wind power in particular: part of the producers have an interest in continuing to inject on networks even if there are no needs because they benefit from a purchase obligation with guaranteed price on horizons at 20 years.
Negative electricity price: record broken for 2025
The trend accelerates from year to year. The 2024 record, which amounted to 352 hours france breaks its electricity record of negative or zero prices, was broken even before the end of the summer. As of July 13. 2025, France already accumulated 368 hours, exceeding the total of the previous year which had however already doubled that of 2023.
In the long term, the increase in the number of hours at negative prices is also notable. In France. for the year 2025we count for the moment 368 hours where the price of electricity on the spot market has been negative or zero.
These episodes are concentrated during spring and summer, mainly During weekends and early afternoon (Between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.), moments when solar production is at its peak and industrial and tertiary demand at the lowest.
Far from being a simple market curiosity. this situation generates an “economic loss for the community”, france breaks its electricity record in the words of the CRE. Indeed. when producers under purchase obligation (OA) sell their electricity at negative prices, It is the State, and therefore the taxpayer, which compensates for their losses via the public energy service charges (CSPE).
The regulator thus calculated that the simple cut of these parks during these hours could have generated. a saving of 15 million euros for the State in the first half of 2024. A sum which will only increase with the explosion of the phenomenon in 2025.
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When is dynamic prices to take advantage of negative prices?
Faced with this avalanche of hours where electricity is free. even paid to be consumed on the markets, a question arises: why do French consumers see no difference on their bill? While common sense would like consumption is encouraged at these moments via very low pricesFrance is cultural exception. The price signal remains blocked. and the vast majority of households pay around 20 cents per kWh, whether the market is at -50 € or +200 €.
However, elsewhere in Europe, dynamic pricing is a well -installed reality. In Spain, Almost a third of households benefit from a regulated rate that evolves time per hour. In Scandinavia, it has become the standard, with more than 70 % of Swedish and Norwegian households france breaks its electricity record equipped. These offers. which directly affect the prices of the Spot market, allow consumers to take advantage of these extremely low prices on the markets.
French reluctance is explained by several factors. First of all. the fear of the public authorities which alert the risk of unpredictable invoices For the most precarious households. The spectrum of bankruptcy of the Danish supplier Barry Energy in France, in the midst of 2022, marked the spirits. Added to this is a culture of tariff stability and a lack of pedagogy on the potential profits of flexibility.
Nevertheless, offers with “French” variable prices exist and are growing success. The EDF tempo option. with its low -priced days and its few very expensive days, has attracted hundreds of thousands of homes. Other suppliers, such as OHM energy or totalnergies, also offer incentive offers. But these solutions remain simplified. controlled versions of france breaks its electricity record dynamic pricing, far from the transparency and responsiveness of the models of our European neighbors.
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The time offer at -20 % (HT) compared to the regulated rate
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France breaks its electricity record
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