Grid Poet — 20 July 2026, 20:00
Wind leads renewables at 15.7 GW but 18.8 GW net imports fill the evening demand gap alongside heavy coal generation.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At 20:00 on a summer evening, German domestic generation of 38.4 GW falls well short of 57.2 GW consumption, requiring approximately 18.8 GW of net imports. Solar has largely dropped off at 2.1 GW under 94% cloud cover near sunset, leaving wind (15.7 GW combined onshore and offshore) as the leading renewable source, supplemented by 4.3 GW biomass and 1.2 GW hydro. Thermal baseload remains substantial with brown coal at 8.6 GW, hard coal at 3.4 GW, and natural gas at 3.2 GW, reflecting the high residual load of 18.7 GW and the elevated day-ahead price of 178.2 EUR/MWh — consistent with an evening demand peak in which diminished solar and moderate wind leave considerable room for dispatchable and imported generation.
Grid poem Claude AI
The sun has fled behind a leaden veil, and brown towers exhale their ancient breath into the gathering dark, while turbine blades carve restless arcs against a sky that owes no light. Across the borders, rivers of current pour inward to feed a nation's glowing hearths, the price of evening written in coal smoke and imported watts.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 31%
Wind offshore 10%
Solar 5%
Biomass 11%
Hydro 3%
Natural gas 8%
Hard coal 9%
Brown coal 22%
60%
Renewable share
15.7 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
2.1 GW
Solar
38.4 GW
Total generation
18.7 GW
Net import
178.2 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
17.6°C / 12 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
94.0% / 22.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
290
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Brown coal 8.6 GW dominates the left quarter as a massive lignite power complex with four hyperbolic cooling towers emitting thick white steam plumes lit from below by amber sodium lights; hard coal 3.4 GW sits just right of centre-left as a smaller coal plant with two stacks trailing grey smoke; natural gas 3.2 GW appears centre-right as a compact CCGT facility with a single tall exhaust stack and a faint blue gas flame visible through a turbine hall window; wind onshore 11.9 GW spans the entire right third and background as dozens of three-blade turbines on lattice and tubular towers, rotors turning moderately in 11.5 km/h breeze, nacelles catching faint industrial light; wind offshore 3.8 GW is suggested by a distant row of turbines on the far-right horizon above a dark river or estuary; biomass 4.3 GW appears as a mid-sized industrial plant with a wood-chip conveyor and a single stack emitting pale smoke, placed between the coal complex and the gas plant; hydro 1.2 GW is a small concrete dam and powerhouse nestled in a forested valley in the middle distance; solar 2.1 GW appears as a modest field of crystalline silicon panels in the foreground, their surfaces dark and unreflective under heavy overcast, nearly invisible in the fading light. The sky is a deep navy-black, fully dark at 20:00 Berlin summer time — no twilight glow remains, only a dense 94% overcast ceiling faintly illuminated from below by the industrial sodium-orange light of the power plants. The atmosphere feels heavy and oppressive, reflecting the 178.2 EUR/MWh price — low clouds press down, humidity hangs in the air at 17.6°C, lush midsummer vegetation in deep greens visible only where artificial light reaches. High-voltage transmission pylons march across the middle ground carrying thick cable bundles, symbolising the massive import flows. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters — rich saturated colour, visible impasto brushwork, dramatic chiaroscuro between the glowing industrial facilities and the surrounding darkness, atmospheric depth with mist and steam layering into the distance, meticulous engineering accuracy on every turbine nacelle, cooling tower, and transformer yard. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 20 July 2026, 20:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-07-20T18:20 UTC · Download image