Silje Eriksen Holmen, Head of Fundamentals & Hydrology at Volt Power Analytics, was recently quoted in a Bloomberg News article discussing Europe’s increasingly volatile power markets.
We think of this volatility as extreme today, but it is becoming the new normal.
A heat wave combined with low wind is one of the most challenging situations for the power system. Electricity demand increases just as two of Europe’s largest renewable energy sources are producing less.
Almost every summer day now follows the same pattern:
☀️ Solar floods the grid at midday, pushing prices close to zero.
🌙 As the sun sets and demand peaks, prices rise sharply.
🎢 According to ACER, daily price swings are now around five times larger than they were in 2020.
With batteries covering only around 3% of installed solar capacity, according to BloombergNEF, the challenge is no longer generating renewable electricity — it is shifting it to the hours when it is needed most.
The Bloomberg article is available here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-07-15/solar-is-sending-european-power-prices-on-a-roller-coaster
Chart: Spain during the late June heat wave.
