Negative electricity prices are making a strong comeback in the French energy market. Driven by rising photovoltaic output and reduced nuclear flexibility, they dominated much of April, often falling close to the regulatory floor.
April 2026 Statistics: average price (€40/MWh); average daily maximum price (€111/MWh); average daily minimum price (-€33/MWh); and average spread (€143/MWh).
Image: Storio Energy
From pv magazine France
Spring marks a strong resurgence of negative prices in the French energy market. According to the Storio Energy Price Observatory, 90% of days in April recorded zero or negative prices on the day-ahead market. The final weekend of the month was particularly notable, with prices falling as low as -€479 (-$563)/MWh at 2:00 pm on April 26, thereby approaching the market floor. Meanwhile, price spreads continued to widen, increasing by 15% compared with the same period in 2025, while the average price declined by 26%.
According to Storio Energy, this decline results from a combination of factors. On the one hand, photovoltaic generation has surged, supported by approximately 6 GW of new capacity connected in 2025. A significant share of this capacity, operating under feed-in tariff schemes, continues to inject electricity into the grid even during periods of negative prices. On the other hand, the flexibility of nuclear generation has been more limited than a year earlier, with available capacity at around 28 GW in 2026 compared with approximately 24 GW in 2025. “EDF auctions this output on the day-ahead market ‘at any price’—even when prices are extremely low,” the analysis notes.
A regulatory factor may also be playing a role. On March 27, 2026, the Energy Regulatory Commission approved an agreement between grid operator RTE and French state-owned utility EDF establishing a minimum output level for nuclear power, aimed at safeguarding grid stability. “This agreement likely accounts, at least in part, for the reduced output modulation observed over recent weeks,” Storio Energy suggests.
Meanwhile, the international geopolitical context continues to weigh on prices. Tensions in the Middle East are keeping European natural gas prices elevated, thus pushing up electricity prices during morning and evening hours, when gas-fired plants typically set the marginal price, to an average of €111/MWh.
The result is a relatively moderate average electricity price, hovering around €40/MWh, but with unprecedented intraday volatility. The average daily price spread has reached €143/MWh, which is around 3.5 times the average price.
This trend shows no signs of abating. In early May, a new record low for negative pricing was reached at -€498/MWh, coming perilously close to the regulatory floor of -€500/MWh on the day-ahead market.
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More articles from Gwénaëlle Deboutte
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