Renewable energy prices are rising in Europe as companies turn to green energy to cut emissions and hedge against rising fossil-fuel prices, but are still a fraction of wholesale power market rates. Prices for long-term deals to purchase wind and solar power in Europe rose 8.7% in the first quarter to 57 euros ($62) per megawatt hour, according to a report from LevelTen Energy Inc., a Seattle startup that helps companies buy power from renewables projects. Prices for the power purchase agreements, or PPAs, are up about 28% from a year earlier. Despite that cost inflation, renewable power is still a bargain compared to Europe’s wholesale market, where electricity prices are determined by the most expensive generation technology — which is currently natural gas. Benchmark German electricity for next year is more than three times higher than a PPA at nearly 200 euros per megawatt-hour. That price differential is […]