COR-e celebrates its 4th year !

It is not much in absolute terms, but it is quite significant in an energy sector that only became liberalised in the early 2000s.

Rather than recounting our short history, I’d like to offer some original figures and thoughts on the market from the last 48 months. They are not the figures you hear about most often, but they seem to me to be interesting witnesses to the profound changes in the sector.

Here they are:

• 259 €/MWh: the highest EPEX spot Day-Ahead price
• -75 €/MWh: the lowest EPEX spot Day-Ahead price4: the number of hours with a negative price in Fr in 2017
  
  
• 102 : the number of hours with a negative price in France in 2020
• 2500MW : the increase in photovoltaic capacity in France
  
  
• 5000 MW: the increase in photovoltaic capacity in Spain
• 1500 MW: the average electricity exports from France to Spain in Q1 2017
  
  
• 150 MW: average electricity exports from France to Spain Q1 2021
• 50%: the decrease in coal-based electricity production in France between Q1 2017 and Q1 2021

In 4 years the energy markets have undergone significant changes, for example: the implementation of a capacity mechanism in France, the creation of two separate price zones for Germany and Austria. But also the commissioning of new interconnection capacity in Europe (particularly around the UK).

The acceleration of the development of solar and wind energy poses new challenges for traders and network operators but also offers new opportunities on the flexibility markets on which batteries operate. Belgium and the United Kingdom have adapted their tools and rules for the supply of system services, and this trend is spreading throughout Europe.

But if we had to remember only one figure, it would be the one linked to the evolution of the price of the tonne of CO2, which has risen from 5€/t in May 2017 to almost 56€/t in the last few days.

After a difficult start and a few setbacks, and even if it remains imperfect, the emission allowance market is beginning to bear fruit. Its first increase has gradually made gas power plants more competitive than coal power plants. It could now provide new incentives for industry to reduce greenhouse gases, while reducing the need for subsidies to new renewable energy installations.

On the downside, this increase will inevitably be reflected in higher consumer bills. But let’s be optimistic and see the glass as half full: this could be a great springboard for the development of flexibility among industrial consumers, and why not among residential consumers.