Study: Renewable energies significantly reduce the price of electricity

Renewable energies clearly have a dampening effect on prices. This is shown by a study conducted by the energy market experts at Energy Brainpool conducted on behalf of GP JOULE. If 20 gigawatts (GW) more onshore wind energy and 30 GW more solar energy had been installed, the price per kilowatt hour on the day-ahead market would have been more than 8 cents lower in August 2022. And an average household would have had to spend around 130 euros less on electricity in the past twelve months.

Electricity prices have risen significantly in recent months. There are many reasons for this, but the main ones are Russia's war in Ukraine and its impact on natural gas supplies, as well as the outages at French nuclear power plants. The price of a megawatt hour (MWh) on the day-ahead market in Germany was around 465 euros in August 2022. For comparison: A year ago, in September 2021, the price was still around 128 euros.

GP JOULE therefore wanted to know: How would electricity prices in Germany have developed if more renewable energies had been available? To find out, the energy turnaround company commissioned the independent energy market experts from Energy Brainpool, who prepared a short study. The scenario: 20 GW of onshore wind energy and 30 GW of solar energy would extra were installed and on the grid. What impact would this have on our electricity price?

The result is clear: Renewable energies significantly reduce the price of electricity.

Between September 2021 and August 2022, the higher wind and solar capacity would have resulted in electricity prices averaging 12 to 24 percent lower per month. For the entire period between September 2021 and August 2022, the price would have decreased monthly by 37 euros per MWh, or 17 percent.

"For a household with an annual consumption of 3,000 kWh, the savings potential is EUR 111 plus VAT," the study states. In August 2022 alone, the price per kilowatt-hour on the day-ahead market would have been more than 8 cents lower.

The additional generation of electricity from solar and wind energy would of course also be a gain for climate protection: In the assumed scenario, electricity generation from solar plants increases by 30 terawatt hours (TWh) and from wind turbines by 43 TWh from September 2021 to August 2022. According to the study, this would replace around 8 TWh of electricity from natural gas, 15 TWh from lignite and 16 TWh from hard coal.

Also, "the effect on the entire national economy is immense", write the authors of the study. Between 19.3 and 19.7 billion euros less would have had to be spent on electricity in this country over the past twelve months if the 50 GW of additional solar and wind capacity had been installed.

Renewables are the way out of the electricity price crisis

"The study clearly shows that renewables are the solution," says Ove Petersen, CEO and co-founder of GP JOULE: "The solution for permanently affordable energy prices, for security of supply, for independence and for mitigating the damage that the climate change we are causing will bring."

The 20 gigawatts of onshore wind energy and 30 GW of additional solar energy installed capacity assumed in the study scenario would not have been at all unrealistic to achieve in the past decades. On the contrary. According to the EEG 2023 (Renewable Energy Source Act), 41 GW of onshore solar and wind power capacity is to be added in Germany in 2024 alone, 55 GW in 2026, 59 GW two years later, and so on.

"This means that if we focus now on the legally stipulated expansion path for renewables, we will solve the electricity market crisis by 2024 at the latest and will have displaced gas and coal by then," says Petersen.

The entire short study by Energy Brainpool
... can be found here.

GP JOULE at Wind Energy in Hamburg

At Wind Energy in Hamburg, the industry is currently demonstrating just how efficient it is. GP JOULE will be there from 27 to 30 September at stand 323 in hall A4.

About GP JOULE

Founded in 2009 based on the belief that a 100% renewable energy supply is feasible, GP JOULE is now a system provider for integrated energy solutions from solar, wind and biomass power as well as being a partner at the supply level for electricity, heat, hydrogen and electric mobility. GP JOULE is thus a pioneering company in sector cross-linkage. Around 500 people work for the medium-sized group of companies in Germany, Europe and North America. GP JOULE is the winner of the Schleswig-Holstein Business Environment Award 2019 and the German Renewables Award 2020.

Press contact
Jürn Kruse
Corporate Communications 
GP JOULE Group
j.kruse(at)gp-joule.de   
Phone +49 (0) 4671-6074-213 
Mobile +49 (0) 160-1540265

GP JOULE GmbH Cecilienkoog 16  •  25821 Reußenköge  •  www.gp-joule.de