How do solar in the Nordics and batteries in Germany impact the market?

The Nordic countries have set ambitious targets for solar power and costs are at record lows. In the spring edition of THEMA’s Power Market Outlooks, released on February 29th, we dive deep into the consequences of a possible solar boom in the Nordics and look at the impact of batteries in Germany.

Sol i Norden og batterier i Tyskland – endrer det markedene?

Ambitious political goals and record-low prices for solar modules have led to great interest in solar power from investors. Several large plans for solar parks are awaiting approval by the Norwegian regulator, NVE. NVE has received 50 different applications or expressions of interest since 2022 from companies looking to build and is therefore hiring additional staff to help clear the growing backlog of applications. A solar energy boom in Norway and the Nordic countries may therefore be on the horizon. That said, these projects face challenges related to their land use and environmental impacts. These issues have led to several license applications being withdrawn.

The development of solar energy in the Nordic region is therefore surrounded by considerable uncertainty, with estimates ranging from modest business-as-usual projections to ambitious government targets. In the special chapter of our Nordic Power Market Outlook, we analyse Nordic solar expansion and investigate its possible effects on power prices and profitability.

On the Continent, and not least in Germany, grid development plans expect extensive battery investments in the coming years. In our Continental Power Market Outlook, we analyse a sharp increase in battery investments in Germany.

We investigate how these batteries might be used and possible sources of income for large-scale batteries. In particular, we consider the use of batteries in intraday trading and how such trading might provide a revenue stream for battery investments.

As always, our Power Market Outlooks also include our long-term view of power-market developments under three different scenarios for the period out to 2055.

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