How electricity can actually make you money | DW News

Negative electricity prices in Europe

Europe is increasingly seeing negative electricity prices, where consumers are paid to use electricity—for example, when a home’s washing machine runs or an EV charges.

Why negative prices happen

Negative prices occur when energy supply exceeds demand. This often happens when renewables—especially solar—feed large amounts into the grid during periods of low usage (such as sunny weekends when factories are closed). The resulting grid oversupply can push market prices down, sometimes below zero.

How common it is (examples)

Negative price hours have been reported across parts of Europe, including:

• Sweden: ~20% of hours last year
• Denmark: ~8%
• Germany: nearly ~7%

Consumer upside

For EV drivers and other high-load households, negative pricing can be financially attractive. Using apps and flexible tariffs, consumers can shift energy use to the cheapest windows—sometimes even negative ones.

The segment highlights one user, Timo, who automatically charges his EV during low-price times and can save money and sometimes even receive payments.

Grid challenge (why it’s a concern)

While negative pricing can benefit consumers, it also signals a system stability issue. Grid operators must continuously balance generation and consumption, and sudden renewable feed-in spikes can make this harder.

The video cites a real-world example: Spain and Portugal experienced a massive outage, illustrating how quickly grid balancing can fail.

Proposed solution: flexible, price-responsive consumption

Because household energy use isn’t inherently tied to real-time grid costs, the report argues for digital meters and market-linked “smart” pricing.

A startup called Tibber is presented as enabling this approach with smart meters that measure consumption frequently and bill based on market conditions.

Broader adoption beyond Europe

Similar models are described as emerging beyond Europe, including:

• United States: e.g., Texas and New York
• Asia: e.g., Singapore and Japan
• Australia

Renewables perspective and key takeaways

Experts argue that renewables are central to decarbonization and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels. The segment’s conclusion is that progress depends on:

• Upgrading power grids
• Developing decentralized, flexible generation
• Enabling flexible consumption so renewables can be integrated without destabilizing the system

It emphasizes that grid investment has lagged behind renewable generation growth.

Presenters / contributors

• Narrator / interview subjects: (not explicitly named as a presenter)
• Timo (EV driver/user)
• Dirk Biermann (Managing Director, power grid operator)
• Katrin Goldmann (Energy expert)
• DW News (program/production)