As Western Europe suffers a heat wave topping 40 degrees, power plants are cutting output due to the heat, sending electricity prices soaring.
Many parts of Western Europe have recently been struggling with a heat wave. On the 25th (local time), the temperature in Somerset, Britain, exceeded 37.8 degrees, setting a June record high, and in Paris it rose to 41 degrees. In particular, in Paris, France, and several cities in Italy, nighttime temperatures are above 30 degrees, worsening tropical nights.
With the heat wave continuing all day, power consumption is also surging. RTE, France's national grid operator, said earlier this week, "In a heat wave, every 1-degree rise in temperature increases air-conditioner use, pushing up power consumption by about 1 gigawatt (GW)."
The problem is that high temperatures are also cutting generation. According to the Financial Times (FT) in Britain, as river water temperatures rose in the heat wave, France's state-owned power company EDF reduced output at nuclear power plants by 4.1 GW, and in Britain, as temperatures climbed to 36 degrees, five major gas-fired power plants struggled with cooling and scaled back generation.
Bruce Douglas, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Global Renewables Alliance (GRA), said, "Aging grids and old power plants cannot handle the heat wave caused by fossil fuels."
With demand rising and supply falling, electricity prices are also soaring. According to energy information firm Montel, in Germany the wholesale power price, which was 86 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) at noon on the 25th, spiked to 566 euros by 8 p.m. That is because power demand surges in the evening while solar output drops sharply. This is more than triple the peak price of about 160 euros at the same time last week.
In Britain, with low wind speeds reducing wind power output and the heat wave sending power demand surging, the grid operator paid about 1,379 pounds per MWh to import electricity from continental Europe. That is roughly 15 times the typical day-ahead transaction price.
Fintan Devine, a senior energy analyst at Montel, said, "Power demand was high across Europe, and increased air-conditioner use was one of the main reasons," adding, "As more expensive generators run to meet the higher demand, electricity prices rise as well."
With the heat wave expected to persist for the time being, the situation is likely to worsen further. Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. climate change secretariat, told the FT, "This heat wave has clearly shown how poorly countries and infrastructure are prepared not only for what is coming, but for a climate crisis that has already become a reality."