August M
Summer weather usually brings a welcome break from the cold.
For infrastructure managers, however, extreme seasonal shifts present a completely different set of structural challenges that put modern power grids to the test. The latest bout of intense sunshine is exposing these hidden vulnerabilities, reports Euronews.
Underwater on prices
Severe heatwaves recently scorched parts of the United Kingdom and France, breaking records for May. This sudden blast of intense sunshine triggered an unprecedented surge in solar energy production. It completely overwhelmed local markets.
Wholesale electricity prices actually plunged below zero across several European regions. Bloomberg reported that British solar power met nearly half of the country’s midday electricity demand on May 24, as London sweltered at 32.2°C.
Epex Spot data showed French energy prices dropped below zero on May 26, while Spain recorded 397 hours of negative pricing in early 2026, according to the analytics firm Montel.
Outdated energy networks
Giving away free power sounds like a win for consumers, but these negative rates will not automatically lower domestic bills. Power grids simply cannot handle the sheer volume of electricity generated during weather spikes.
The financial fallout is staggering. Britain threw away £1.47 billion last year by turning off wind turbines and paying gas plants to run instead, highlighting massive network inefficiencies.
The problem stretches far beyond the British Isles. The energy think tank Ember revealed that Europe’s bottlenecked grid threatens over 120 gigawatts of upcoming clean energy, leaving rooftop setups for 1.5 million households in limbo.
Building massive battery storage installations could fix the problem, but Europe is lagging behind. A report from Solar Power Europe noted that while the regional battery fleet reached 77 gigawatt hours this year, capacity must expand tenfold by 2030.
Heavy weather strains
Extreme heat also damages the efficiency of renewable hardware. Stagnant air under regional heat domes causes wind speeds to collapse entirely. According to RTE data, French wind generation plummeted to just 0.5 gigawatts on May 29.
Even solar panels suffer when temperatures climb too high. Ioanna Vergini, founder of the climate data platform wfy24.com, explained the science to Euronews Earth.
Vergini stated, “It’s a common misconception that more sun always equals more power,” before explaining that “Photovoltaic (PV) cells are semiconductors, and like all electronics, they lose efficiency as temperature rises.” Efficiency drops by about 0.5 per cent for every single degree above 25°C.
Sources: Euro News, Bloomberg, NESO, Epex Spot, Montel, Ember, Solar Power Europe, RTE, Euronews Earth
