The dynamics on the energy exchanges offer companies that have large-scale battery storage systems enormous opportunities to Electricity market optimization reduce their procurement costs. By making intelligent use of electricity price volatility and targeted arbitrage transactions, they can buy electricity at favorable times and sell it again at high prices. This results in considerable savings in the long term.
How does electricity market optimization through arbitrage work?
Arbitrage on the electricity market uses price differences between different markets or points in time to achieve risk-free profits. This practice offsets market imbalances and increases efficiency by quickly adjusting price differences. The core mechanism is to buy electricity during periods of oversupply or in markets with low prices and sell it during periods of high demand or in more expensive markets. The profit results from the difference between the purchase and sales price less transaction and storage costs.
In practice, there are various forms of arbitrage. In the temporal arbitrage electricity is purchased cheaply with the help of large-scale battery storage systems and fed back into the grid at peak load times. The Intraday trading makes it possible to utilize short-term fluctuations by adjusting electricity volumes up to 30 minutes before the start of delivery. Spatial arbitrage exploits price differences between countries, but transmission capacities are limited. Product arbitrage on the other hand, is based on the purchase of individual quarter-hour contracts at low average prices, which are then sold as more expensive hourly products.
A number of key requirements are essential for successful arbitrage. Through Real-time price datawhich, for example, the CUBE EfficiencyUnit delivers, should Market transparency be present, precise Weather data and Forecasts should calculate the production of renewable energies and calculate a Fast automatic response is crucial, as arbitrage windows are often only open for a few minutes to hours. Overall, arbitrage helps to reduce price fluctuations and better integrate renewable energies by making efficient use of surpluses. In addition, operators of storage systems amortize their investments more quickly.
Advantages of electricity market optimization
Companies that use large-scale battery storage to optimize electricity consumption through arbitrage on the electricity market benefit from several advantages. Through the targeted purchase of electricity in Low price phases and its use in High price periods energy costs can be reduced considerably. Furthermore, participation in electricity trading enables additional income by selling surplus electricity at a profit when prices are high.
Another advantage lies in the optimized use of renewable energies: companies with own PV systems can store surplus electricity and use it when needed in order to Own consumption to maximize. Arbitrage also offers a high degree of flexibility in energy management, as companies can access various market segments such as the intraday, day-ahead or balancing energy market and flexibly adapt their energy strategy.
The latest developments on the electricity market show that volatility is on the rise and arbitrage transactions are increasingly worthwhile. In 2024, there were a total of 41 hours with prices over 300 Euro/MWhwhile there were only 3 such hours in 2023. At the same time, low prices of 0 Euro/MWh or lower have become significantly more frequent - 457 hours in 2024, compared to 301 hours in 2023. These price fluctuations open up considerable savings potential for companies that manage their energy supply intelligently.
Conclusion
Optimizing the electricity market through arbitrage offers companies with large-scale battery storage systems considerable economic advantages. Energy costs can be sustainably reduced through the targeted purchase of electricity during low-price phases and the sale or consumption during high-price periods. At the same time, trading in electricity opens up additional sources of income while increasing flexibility in energy management.
The increasing volatility of electricity prices and the planned capacity markets from 2028 increase the potential of this strategy. Increasing price peaks and more frequent phases with extremely low prices create ideal conditions for arbitrage transactions. Companies that use real-time data, precise forecasts and automated control systems can make the most of these opportunities. In addition, arbitrage contributes to the better integration of renewable energies and the stabilization of electricity grids. Overall, it is clear that the intelligent use of electricity market fluctuations is a key lever for cost savings and a sustainable energy future.