State of European Power · October 2021

State of European Power — October 2021

Published 2021-11-02 · every figure recomputed live from the Voltcast production database (last: 2026-07-13T23:55Z) · reproduce any number via the API

88

negative price-hours across 40 zones in October 2021

146.97

average day-ahead price, €/MWh, across covered zones

14

zones that cleared below zero at least once

October 2021 closed with 88 negative price-hours across the 40 European bidding zones with full coverage this month — 14 of them cleared below zero at least once. Negative prices are no longer an anomaly; they are a structural feature of a grid where solar and wind routinely outrun demand.

The cheapest market of the month was NO4 (average 22.17 €/MWh); the priciest was IT-NORD (218.58 €/MWh) — a 196 €/MWh gap between two markets inside one coupled European system, which is the whole story of constrained interconnection in one number.

BE logged the most negative hours (14), and the widest intra-month price range belonged to DE-LU: from -6.9 to 622.03 €/MWh (628.93 €/MWh of spread — the raw material for every battery business case). The single deepest print of the month was -63.10 €/MWh in DE-LU on 2021-10-02.

Every zone, one table

ZoneAvg €/MWhMinMaxNegative hours
AT 171.42 17.82 456.23 0
BE 165.37 -30 442.9 14
CH 198.32 9.02 366.71 0
CZ 140.62 0.01 428.56 0
DE-LU 141.69 -6.9 622.03 8
DK1 116.9 -2.02 442.9 7
DK2 106.74 -1.97 442.9 7
EE 105.61 0.07 280.41 0
ES 199.67 15 319.03 0
FI 64.85 0.07 280.41 0
FR 172.54 -2.02 393.1 3
GR 198.52 78.56 344 0
HR 202.73 47.94 428.56 0
HU 197.29 3.77 428.56 0
IE-SEM 217.62 45.11 495.43 0
IT-CALA 207.76 7 372.4 0
IT-CNOR 218.52 130.5 393.1 0
IT-CSUD 216.72 130.5 372.4 0
IT-NORD 218.58 130.5 393.1 0
IT-SARD 215.74 8 372.4 0
IT-SICI 217 7 372.4 0
IT-SUD 212.06 126.47 372.4 0
LT 108.92 0.07 347.54 0
LV 106.4 0.07 280.41 0
NL 163.81 -2.02 442.9 5
NO1 97.68 -1.97 259.73 5
NO2 98.91 -1.97 259.73 5
NO3 24.94 -0.01 56.77 3
NO4 22.17 -0.01 56.77 3
NO5 97.51 1.84 228.38 0
PL 103.23 49.58 262.01 0
PT 199.7 15 319.03 0
RO 192.32 3.77 350 0
RS 201.48 68.09 412.35 0
SE1 25.54 -1.97 56.77 7
SE2 25.54 -1.97 56.77 7
SE3 64.28 -1.97 280.41 7
SE4 86.24 -1.97 347.54 7
SI 202.73 47.94 428.56 0
SK 151.17 0.01 428.56 0

Method & citation. Hourly means over all published day-ahead auction results per zone (native 15-minute periods averaged per hour); zones with under 20 reported days excluded. Sources: ENTSO-E Transparency Platform, SMARD (CC BY 4.0). Reproduce via GET /api/v1/prices/{zone}. Cite as "Voltcast Research, voltcast.com/research/state-of-european-power-2021-10".