Denmark generates around 58% of its electricity consumption from wind farms - the highest rate in the world. Last week, the Danish government did not receive a single bid for the largest ever tender for offshore wind farms - even the nationalised Orsted A/S refrained from bidding due to a lack of investment attractiveness.

What is the reason for this "lack of interest"? One of the main reasons is the low electricity prices caused by the wind farms already installed - the same is also being observed in Sweden. The rapid expansion of electricity-generating wind turbines over the last two decades seems to be coming to an end because the low electricity prices simply offer too little incentive for further investment in this area. In addition, doubts are spreading as to whether the predicted demand for electricity will materialise because some energy-hungry, green, mega-projects have been postponed or even cancelled.

Furthermore, construction costs - especially steel prices and labour costs for offshore wind farms - have risen sharply. A similar phenomenon is occurring in the PV sector, but the still falling costs of PV modules are helping to mask the problem.

What could help to increase the willingness to invest again - knowing that wind farms and PV systems often generate too much electricity at times when the wind is blowing strongly and the sun is shining, meaning that negative prices can be observed more and more often? A seemingly simple solution would be to change consumer behaviour - i.e. to shift electricity consumption to times of high electricity generation - due to renewables. With the advancing electrification of the transport, industrial and domestic heating sectors, this should seem feasible and attractive, but unfortunately it is not that simple. The growth rates of EVs are currently not that strong and investments in heat pumps are also lagging behind expectations - especially as it is difficult to change consumer behaviour sustainably - even if the necessary infrastructure is available and prices are low

This means that fossil fuels, mainly natural gas, are needed longer and more for electricity generation in existing "fossil" power plants than in the event of a shift in consumption, i.e. a change in consumption behaviour - these appear to be the negative side effects of low or negative electricity prices. However, it cannot be assumed that the reduced investment in offshore wind farms and possibly in PV systems in the future will result in significantly higher natural gas consumption - which would also have an impact on the price of natural gas.