Grid Poet — 17 August 2026, 08:00
Overcast skies and light winds force heavy coal, gas, and import reliance, pushing prices above 200 EUR/MWh.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
Domestic generation of 34.9 GW covers only 57% of the 60.7 GW consumption, requiring approximately 25.8 GW of net imports. An overcast sky with near-zero direct radiation limits solar output to 8.6 GW, well below mid-August potential, while light winds constrain onshore and offshore wind to a combined 3.9 GW. The resulting high residual load of 25.8 GW has pushed fossil thermal dispatch to 17.3 GW—brown coal at 5.8 GW, hard coal at 4.8 GW, and gas at 6.7 GW—and the day-ahead price to 208.6 EUR/MWh, reflecting tight supply conditions across the interconnected system. Despite these thermal contributions, renewables still account for roughly half of domestic output at 50.8%, carried primarily by solar and biomass at 4.0 GW.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a shroud of unbroken cloud the turbines barely whisper, while coal and gas roar furnace-bright to fill the hungry void. Germany draws deep on distant borders, its own hearth half-lit, half-borrowed.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 8%
Wind offshore 3%
Solar 25%
Biomass 12%
Hydro 3%
Natural gas 19%
Hard coal 14%
Brown coal 16%
51%
Renewable share
3.9 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
8.6 GW
Solar
34.9 GW
Total generation
25.8 GW
Net import
208.6 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
15.8°C / 6 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
100.0% / 1.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
331
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Brown coal 5.8 GW dominates the left quarter as three massive hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white-grey steam plumes rising into an oppressive leaden sky; hard coal 4.8 GW appears just right of centre as a cluster of dark industrial boiler houses with tall chimneys trailing dark smoke; natural gas 6.7 GW occupies the centre-right as compact modern CCGT plants with polished steel exhaust stacks emitting thin transparent heat haze; solar 8.6 GW fills the mid-ground as vast fields of aluminium-framed crystalline silicon PV panels stretching across flat farmland, their surfaces dull grey reflecting no sunlight under total overcast; wind onshore 2.7 GW appears as a short row of three-blade turbines on gentle hills in the right background, rotors turning sluggishly; wind offshore 1.2 GW is suggested by tiny turbines on a distant grey horizon line; biomass 4.0 GW is a mid-sized wood-chip plant with a modest smokestack and timber storage yard in the right foreground; hydro 1.2 GW is a small concrete run-of-river weir with white water visible at the far right edge. The time is 08:00 on a mid-August morning: full diffuse daylight but absolutely no sun visible, a uniform 100% cloud ceiling pressing low and heavy, creating a claustrophobic oppressive atmosphere suggesting high energy prices. Temperature is mild at 15.8°C, vegetation is full lush summer green—tall grasses, leafy deciduous trees—but all colours are muted under the flat grey light. The air feels heavy and still, with almost no wind motion in the grass. High-voltage transmission pylons and cables recede into the hazy distance, symbolising the heavy import flows. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters such as Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Blechen—rich layered colour despite the grey palette, visible impasto brushwork, atmospheric depth with sfumato distance, meticulous engineering accuracy in every turbine nacelle, cooling tower curve, and panel frame. The scene conveys the vast industrial metabolism of a nation under cloud, rendered as a brooding masterwork. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 17 August 2026, 08:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-17T06:20 UTC · Download image