Grid Poet — 22 July 2026, 00:00
Brown coal and wind dominate overnight generation as 10.3 GW net imports cover the supply gap.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At midnight on a mild summer night, German domestic generation stands at 34.8 GW against 45.1 GW consumption, requiring approximately 10.3 GW of net imports. Brown coal leads all sources at 8.9 GW, followed by wind (11.7 GW combined onshore and offshore), providing the backbone of overnight supply alongside 4.9 GW of natural gas and 4.1 GW each of hard coal and biomass. The renewable share of 48.7% is respectable for a zero-solar hour but insufficient to suppress the day-ahead price, which at 152.2 EUR/MWh reflects the combination of significant thermal dispatch, import dependency, and moderate wind output well below installed capacity. The elevated price is consistent with a summer overnight period where baseload thermal units are running near must-run minimums and cross-border capacity is being called upon to balance the system.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a starless canopy the furnaces breathe low, their coal-fired lungs exhaling where the midnight rivers flow. The turbines turn in darkness, pale sentinels on the plain, while buried lignite purchases the empire of the flame.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 23%
Wind offshore 11%
Biomass 12%
Hydro 3%
Natural gas 14%
Hard coal 12%
Brown coal 26%
49%
Renewable share
11.7 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.0 GW
Solar
34.8 GW
Total generation
10.2 GW
Net import
152.2 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
16.2°C / 6 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
54.0% / 0.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
366
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Brown coal 8.9 GW dominates the left third of the scene as a massive complex of hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white-grey steam plumes rising into the night sky; wind onshore 7.8 GW fills the centre-right as dozens of three-blade turbines on lattice and tubular towers spread across rolling dark hills, their red aviation warning lights blinking; natural gas 4.9 GW appears as a cluster of compact CCGT units with tall single exhaust stacks and illuminated by sodium-orange industrial lighting in the centre-left; hard coal 4.1 GW sits behind the lignite plant as a smaller set of boiler houses with conveyor belts and a single tall chimney; wind offshore 3.9 GW is visible in the far-right distance as tiny lit turbine tops just above a dark horizon line suggesting the North Sea; biomass 4.1 GW appears as a mid-sized industrial facility with a squat cylindrical silo and modest steam output near the centre; hydro 1.2 GW is represented by a small dam structure with white water glinting under floodlights at the far left edge. Time is midnight: the sky is completely black to deep navy, no twilight, no sky glow, stars barely visible through 54% cloud cover rendered as dark grey masses partially obscuring a waning moon. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, reflecting the high 152.2 EUR/MWh price — humid summer air traps the steam plumes low, creating a dense industrial haze across the middle ground. Temperature is a mild 16°C summer night: lush dark green deciduous trees and tall grass are barely visible in the foreground, lit only by amber sodium streetlights along a road. Light wind at 5.5 km/h means the turbine blades turn slowly, steam plumes drift gently rightward. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters such as Caspar David Friedrich, with rich dark colour palette of indigo, umber, ochre, and warm sodium orange, visible confident brushwork, atmospheric depth through layered industrial haze, meticulous engineering detail on each turbine nacelle, cooling tower parabolic curve, and gas turbine exhaust stack. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 22 July 2026, 00:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-07-21T22:20 UTC · Download image