Negative Electricity Prices: What Really Happened on May 1, 2026

New Record: -€500/MWh on the German Power Market

For nearly two hours, the spot price dropped to -€500 per megawatt hour. On the intraday market, it went as low as -€855/MWh.

Anyone with a dynamic electricity tariff was paid €0.50 per kWh to consume power. After grid fees, roughly €0.40 net remained.

Why Do Negative Electricity Prices Happen in Germany?

Public holiday. Industry offline. Demand at 40 GW instead of the usual 60 GW on a weekday. Meanwhile, millions of solar panels were running at full capacity: 56 GW generation vs. 41 GW consumption.

15 GW surplus, even though wind and hydro power had already been shut down.

Redispatch Costs: €100 Million in a Single Day

Power plants are paid to shut down. At the same time, solar panel owners with legacy contracts still receive full feed-in tariffs, even though their electricity's market value is minus €500.

Estimated damage on May 1 alone: €100 million for German taxpayers.

Missing Flexible Loads: 117 GW Solar vs. 2.4 GW Storage

Germany has 117 GW of installed solar capacity, but only 2.4 GW of battery storage. After one hour of sunshine, the batteries are full. After that, negative prices persist.

Smart Meters in Germany: Why Almost No One Benefits

No smart meter means no dynamic tariff. No dynamic tariff means no incentive to consume power when there's too much of it.

Germany: 5-20% smart meter rollout. 
France, Italy, Scandinavia: over 90%.

Dynamic Tariff: What Could You Have Earned on May 1?

Charge Your EV	11 kW connection = roughly €5 per hour earned while your car charges.
Run Your Heat Pump	Heat your water while electricity is essentially free.
Use Battery Storage	Helps, but full after one hour.
Bitcoin Mining with Waste Heat Recovery	The only flexible load that earns money, stabilizes the grid, and puts the heat to productive use.

The Math: €0.65 of Value per kWh

• €0.40/kWh for consuming power (negative price minus grid fees).
• €0.06-0.10/kWh in Bitcoin mining revenue.
• €0.10-0.15/kWh in saved heating costs.

Total: roughly €0.65 of value per kilowatt hour.

30 GWh Surplus = 50 Bitcoin + Heat

15 GW surplus over 2 hours = 30 GWh of electricity.

That could have produced roughly 50 Bitcoin (approx. €3.4 million).

Plus 28.5 GWh of usable heat. Enough hot water for 700,000 families for one day.

Negative Electricity Prices in 2026: Not an Isolated Event

700 to 900 hours of negative prices are expected in 2026. Every sunny weekend, every public holiday, every bridge day.

The problem is growing, because more solar capacity goes online every year.

Bitcoin Heaters as Flexible Loads

Our Bitcoin heaters can be switched on and off in seconds. The new 21energy Port lets you control miners via the app and connect them to your solar system.

In fall 2026, the 21energy central heating system launches: 10 kW heating capacity, hot water and central heating in one, combined with Bitcoin mining.

The vision: thousands of Bitcoin heaters pooled together, offering aggregated balancing energy and massively reducing redispatch costs.

Calculate your setup at 21energy.com: mining calculator, profitability calculator and PV calculator.

This post is based on the third episode of The MAXX Show with Maximilian Obwexer. The show airs every Tuesday at 6:00 PM live on YouTube, X, and LinkedIn.