Free electricity for e-cars? Stock exchange sees new opportunities

Why electricity prices are falling into negative territory

The reason for this is the growing proportion of wind and solar power. If more electricity is produced than consumed on sunny or windy days, prices on the exchange fall sharply - sometimes even into negative territory. For many consumers, however, this has only had a limited impact so far. Households with dynamic tariffs, where the electricity price is based directly on the market, are the main beneficiaries.

"As a private individual, I was really pleased last weekend that I once again charged my car for free and actually got paid for it," said Reitz.

In the long term, more consumers could benefit from this - for example through smart tariffs or new technologies such as large battery storage systems, such as those currently being built in the Salzland district in Saxony-Anhalt, which are intended to temporarily store electricity from wind and sun.

According to Reitz, if more battery storage systems are built, "we will see fewer negative hours". At the same time, price fluctuations could decrease and cheaper electricity could be used more frequently. The speed at which renewable energies and battery storage systems are expanded will be decisive here.