European day-ahead electricity prices in 2024
- Averaging approximately €75/MWh, European day-ahead electricity prices fell again after 2023.
- Prices fell below the 2021 level in all analyzed countries.
- Price volatility increased in the majority of European countries.
- A record number of negative prices was recorded in 21 of the 25 countries analyzed.
Electricity prices in Europe declined again in 2024. In the previous year, European day-ahead prices had already recovered significantly from the sharp price increase in 2022 (reference to previous article). The European price average in 2024 was around €75/MWh, falling considerably below the 2021 level, in which electricity prices had risen significantly due to the increase in gas prices in the fourth quarter. However, prices remained substantially above the pre-crisis level. Figure 1 shows the development of the average annual electricity price (base price) from 2020 to 2024 for 25 European countries based on data from the ENTSO-e Transparency Platform.

Overall, the highest day-ahead electricity prices were recorded in Ireland (€ 109/MWh) and Italy (€ 107/MWh). Prices in Serbia and Romania also averaged over €100/MWh. Germany exceeded the European average at € 79.6/MWh. We have already discussed price trends in Germany in more detail in our article on German electricity price trends in 2024. As in the previous year, the lowest electricity prices were recorded in Sweden (€36/MWh). Consequently, the electricity price in Sweden was less than half the European average. The average price level in Norway and Finland also remained below €50/MWh.
Average day-ahead prices fell further in 2024 compared to the previous year in all countries analyzed, which indicates increasing stabilization after the crisis years. The respective price level of 2021 was undercut in all countries. However, the average day-ahead prices fell to different extents depending on the country. The price level in 2024 declined most significantly compared to the previous year in France, Norway and Sweden. According to ENTSO-e data, 2024 was characterized by significantly higher nuclear power plant availability in France compared to previous years [2]. In 2024, nuclear power plants accounted for almost 70 % of the electricity mix in France, while the share of gas almost halved from around 6 % in the previous year to 3.3 % [3]. As a result, expensive gas-fired power plants were less likely to set prices in the French bidding zone.
Norway was once again European pioneer in 2024 with a generation mix as high as 99 % renewable energy [4]. The utilization of hydropower in particular enables cost-effective electricity production. Norway and Sweden are closely linked to the European electricity market via interconnectors and frequently export surplus electricity. The lower price level in Europe creates additional downward pressure on prices in the Scandinavian net exporter countries, as falling demand for Scandinavian electricity and lower export revenues increase the domestic supply of electricity.
Comparatively high price reductions (approx. 30 %) were also observed in Portugal, Spain and Belgium. Natural gas accounted for around 20 % of generation in the three countries in 2023, meaning that the gas price had a strong influence on electricity prices. In 2024, not only the price of gas fell, but also the share of natural gas in the three countries, while the expansion of renewable energies progressed significantly. In comparison, the price reduction in the Eastern European and Baltic states was significantly lower.
While the absolute price level has fallen in all countries, the picture is less uniform with regard to the development of price volatility. Figure 2 shows the average daily standard deviation of the electricity price per country as an indicator of price volatility for the years 2020 to 2024.

While the standard deviation fell in all countries in the previous year, it increased again in 16 of the 25 countries in 2024. The average daily standard deviation in Europe amounted to around €28/MWh, slightly above the previous year’s average (€26/MWh). Compared to 2023, price volatility increased in Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Romania in particular. The highest price volatility in 2024 was recorded in Romania and Hungary at over €50/MWh. Price volatility was also comparatively high in the Baltic states, Serbia and Greece. This means that the highest price volatility in 2024 also occurred in small market areas in particular, which only have limited transmission capacity to the larger European interconnected grid.
In contrast, the electricity price in Norway, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland was significantly less volatile with a daily standard deviation of less than €20/MWh. Countries with a high proportion of hydropower, such as Sweden and Norway, showed lower price volatility. Pumped storage in particular can be deployed in a flexible manner, are independent of fuel prices and can therefore effectively balance out fluctuations in supply and demand. In Sweden and Italy, price volatility has even fallen compared to the previous year despite the increasing share of renewable energies. The average daily standard deviation of the day-ahead price also fell in countries such as France and Norway.
In 2024, a record number of negative prices were recorded in 21 of the 25 countries analyzed (see Figure 3). Negative prices occur when the supply of electricity exceeds demand at a given point in time.

Hours with negative day-ahead prices also occurred for the first time in Spain and Portugal in 2024. A particularly high number of hours with negative prices on the day-ahead market occurred in Finland (725), Sweden (652), and the Netherlands (458). Germany ranked third in the country comparison with 459 negative prices. We have already discussed negative prices in Germany in more detail in our article from 21/10/2024. In Norway, the number of negative electricity prices fell to 231, while in Ireland the already low number decreased further. Only in Italy and Serbia no negative prices occurred in 2024, just as in the previous year. Negative prices are not permitted by regulation in either of the two countries.
The occurrence of negative prices is often attributed to an increasing share of renewable energies and negative prices are indeed more likely to occur when energy sources are less flexible or weather-dependent. However, when comparing countries, there is no clear correlation between the share of renewable energies in the electricity mix and the occurrence of negative prices. Instead, a high proportion of negative prices indicates a lack of storage and flexibility solutions to respond efficiently to fluctuations in demand and generation. Negative prices, as well as high price volatility, therefore incentivize the integration of storage and flexibility into the electricity grid.
A detailed analysis of German day-ahead and intraday electricity prices can be found here.
Sources
[1] Entso-E Transpareny Platform. 2025. “Actual Generation per Production Type”, Data view (entsoe.eu)
[2] EPEX SPOT. 2025. “Market data“, https://www.epexspot.com/en/market-data,
[3] Entso-E Transparency Platform. 2025. Installed Capacity per Production Type, Data view (entsoe.eu)
[4] Energy Charts. 2024. „Öffentliche Nettostromerzeugung 2024“,https://www.energy-charts.info/charts/energy_pie/chart.htm?l=de&c=FR&interval=year&year=2024
*Some of the Entso-E data differs from the EPEX data. In cases where both data sources were available to us, we use the EPEX data.