GridPassport Research · rolling 90-day view

Where are European electricity prices swinging most?

Name: Last 90 complete days European Electricity Volatility Report
Creator: GridPassport
License: https://gridpassport.com/electricity-prices/methodology/#data-license-attribution

See where wholesale prices fell below zero most often, which markets recorded the widest daily swings and when the cheapest three-hour windows most often appeared. The comparison uses published observations—not forecasts, household tariffs or modelled savings.

See the market results What this can mean at home

Period: Jul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026
Qualifying markets: 28
Published dates: 90/90
Latest source update: Oct 14, 2026, 23:54 GMT+2

What the data says

Three useful signals—not one opaque score.

Negative-price frequency, within-day spread and a recurring cheap window answer different questions, so this report keeps them separate.

Most negative-price days🇪🇸 Spain34.4%

31 of 90 qualifying days contained at least one reported interval below €0/MWh.

Widest average daily spread🇷🇴 Romania249.0 EUR/MWh

Mean of each observed day's high-minus-low wholesale reference price. This is not a household tariff spread.

Most common cheapest 3h window12:00-15:00local market time

The most frequent label across 904 qualifying market-day observations; individual markets differ.

The latest 90 complete days

The events behind the headline numbers.

These dated observations keep the rolling result grounded in inspectable market days.

Broadest negative-price daySep 20, 202619 markets

At least one negative interval appeared in 19 of 26 qualifying observed markets.

Widest single observed daily spread🇸🇮 Slovenia677.1 EUR/MWh

Aug 3, 2026; one dated market observation, not a typical household price movement.

Negative-price exposure

How often did a market fall below zero?

Top 12 markets by share of qualifying observed days with at least one negative interval. Bar length uses the actual percentage on a 0–100% scale.

🇪🇸 Spain31/90 days34.4%
🇱🇺 Luxembourg25/88 days28.4%
🇳🇱 Netherlands25/88 days28.4%
🇩🇪 Germany / Luxembourg bidding zone24/90 days26.7%
🇫🇷 France19/86 days22.1%
🇧🇪 Belgium19/90 days21.1%
🇵🇱 Poland19/90 days21.1%
🇦🇹 Austria14/90 days15.6%
🇬🇧 Great Britain wholesale12/90 days13.3%
🇨🇿 Czechia11/90 days12.2%
🇨🇭 Switzerland9/89 days10.1%
🇸🇰 Slovakia8/88 days9.1%

Full market table

Negative prices, spread and cheapest window.

How the comparison works ↓

Published wholesale reference-price observations. Rank uses the share of each market's qualifying observed days containing at least one negative-price interval.
Rank	Market	Observed days	Negative days	Negative intervals	Avg daily spread	Common cheapest 3h	Coverage
1	SpainJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	34.4%31 days	0.36%31/8,544 intervals	212.1EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0035 days · local time	98.9%up to 1 price area
2	LuxembourgJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	28.4%25 days	1.18%25/2,112 intervals	191.9EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0056 days · local time	100.0%up to 1 price area
3	NetherlandsJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	28.4%25 days	0.30%25/8,346 intervals	212.7EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0052 days · local time	98.8%up to 1 price area
4	Germany / Luxembourg bidding zoneGermany household prices · Luxembourg household pricesJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	26.7%24 days	0.28%24/8,423 intervals	207.4EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0063 days · local time	100.0%up to 1 price area
5	FranceJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	86/90	22.1%19 days	0.24%19/7,918 intervals	200.4EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0036 days · local time	95.9%up to 1 price area
6	BelgiumJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	21.1%19 days	0.22%19/8,574 intervals	200.0EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0044 days · local time	99.2%up to 1 price area
7	PolandJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	21.1%19 days	0.22%19/8,640 intervals	241.5EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0049 days · local time	100.0%up to 1 price area
8	AustriaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	15.6%14 days	0.16%14/8,496 intervals	191.8EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0049 days · local time	100.0%up to 1 price area
9	Great Britain wholesaleJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	13.3%12 days	0.28%12/4,282 intervals	131.3EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0022 days · local time	99.1%up to 1 price area
10	CzechiaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	12.2%11 days	0.13%11/8,588 intervals	215.1EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0056 days · local time	99.4%up to 1 price area
11	SwitzerlandWholesale market onlyJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	89/90	10.1%9 days	0.43%9/2,107 intervals	134.4EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0058 days · local time	98.6%up to 1 price area
12	SlovakiaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	9.1%8 days	0.10%8/8,391 intervals	239.6EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0041 days · local time	99.3%up to 1 price area
13	RomaniaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	8.0%7 days	0.08%7/8,334 intervals	249.0EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0037 days · local time	98.7%up to 1 price area
14	HungaryJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	8.0%7 days	0.08%7/8,376 intervals	248.2EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0036 days · local time	99.1%up to 1 price area
15	SloveniaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	7.8%7 days	0.08%7/8,544 intervals	233.3EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0038 days · local time	98.9%up to 1 price area
16	CroatiaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	6.8%6 days	0.07%6/8,384 intervals	235.5EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0040 days · local time	99.2%up to 1 price area
17	SwedenJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	89/90	5.6%5 days	0.01%5/33,513 intervals	100.0EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0021 days · local time	98.1%up to 4 price areas
18	DenmarkJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	5.6%5 days	0.03%5/17,228 intervals	202.4EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0048 days · local time	99.7%up to 2 price areas
19	FinlandJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	4.5%4 days	0.05%4/8,190 intervals	79.8EUR/MWh	00:00-03:0020 days · local time	96.9%up to 1 price area
20	LithuaniaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	86/90	2.3%2 days	0.02%2/8,103 intervals	177.2EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0026 days · local time	98.1%up to 1 price area
21	BulgariaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	87/90	2.3%2 days	0.02%2/8,170 intervals	212.6EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0027 days · local time	97.8%up to 1 price area
22	EstoniaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	82/90	1.2%1 days	0.01%1/7,653 intervals	165.5EUR/MWh	14:00-17:0016 days · local time	97.2%up to 1 price area
23	LatviaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	87/90	1.1%1 days	0.01%1/8,180 intervals	179.5EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0022 days · local time	97.9%up to 1 price area
24	North MacedoniaJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	85/90	0.0%0 days	0.00%0/1,992 intervals	173.7EUR/MWh	10:00-13:0032 days · local time	97.6%up to 1 price area
25	MontenegroJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	84/90	0.0%0 days	0.00%0/1,904 intervals	168.0EUR/MWh	11:00-14:0031 days · local time	94.4%up to 1 price area
26	ItalyJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	88/90	0.0%0 days	0.00%0/52,962 intervals	157.0EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0042 days · local time	94.3%up to 7 price areas
27	IrelandJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	85/90	0.0%0 days	0.00%0/2,031 intervals	125.6EUR/MWh	13:00-16:0026 days · local time	99.6%up to 1 price area
28	NorwayJul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026	90/90	0.0%0 days	0.00%0/41,856 intervals	66.6EUR/MWh	12:00-15:0027 days · local time	97.7%up to 5 price areas

For households

Wholesale movement is a signal, not your bill.

Negative wholesale prices do not automatically mean free household electricity. Supplier margins, network charges, taxes, fixed fees and tariff rules still apply. Timing becomes directly relevant only when a retail tariff passes market changes through quickly enough.

The linked market names open GridPassport's separate household-price benchmarks where Eurostat coverage exists. For the practical layer, read what negative prices can mean at home.

Methodology

Comparable periods, visible limitations.

The rules exclude partial current days and require each displayed market to cover most of the exact report period.

Included observations

Only dates inside Jul 17, 2026–Oct 14, 2026 and rows with at least 80% usable source coverage. Each displayed market needs at least 72 of 90 days (80%).

Negative-price measures

A negative-price day contains at least one reported market interval below €0/MWh. Interval share divides negative intervals by all usable intervals. Resolutions differ, so intervals are not described as hours.

Volatility proxy

Daily spread is the highest minus lowest published wholesale reference point in the market aggregation. Its mean is a descriptive range, not a statistical volatility forecast.

Cheapest three-hour window

For each market-day, GridPassport identifies the cheapest contiguous three-hour wholesale reference window. The most frequent local-clock label is descriptive, not a recommended household schedule.

Market comparison limits

Multi-area markets use GridPassport's existing aggregation. The Germany/Luxembourg bidding zone and the separate Luxembourg source row use distinct source representations; their household links are therefore shown explicitly rather than treating the zone as one country.

No household or ROI claim

Values are wholesale reference prices normalized to EUR/MWh. They exclude retail components and do not calculate household bills, battery value, charging savings or product ROI.

Freshness and sources

Published market data with source links.

The aggregate was built Oct 15, 2026, 06:56 GMT+2 from observations updated as late as Oct 14, 2026, 23:54 GMT+2. Operators may revise historical values; a later correction can update the same stable report URL.

Elexon BMRS Open DataData source Terms
Energinet Energi Data ServiceData source Terms
ENTSO-E Transparency PlatformData source Terms
PSE Reports APIData source Terms
SMARD BundesnetzagenturData source Terms
GridPassport transformations and attributionData licence notes

Completed periods only

Quarterly reports.

A quarter appears here only after the full period and coverage checks pass. Monthly evidence remains in the existing wholesale archive rather than a duplicate report series.

Q1 202630 qualifying markets

Jan 1, 2026–Mar 31, 2026 · 90/90 published dates

Q2 202626 qualifying markets

Apr 1, 2026–Jun 30, 2026 · 91/91 published dates

Q3 202628 qualifying markets

Jul 1, 2026–Sep 30, 2026 · 92/92 published dates

Open data

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