Grid Poet — 17 August 2026, 14:00
Overcast skies suppress solar output, elevating thermal dispatch and driving 7.7 GW net imports at high prices.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At 14:00 on a fully overcast August afternoon, solar generation is notably suppressed at 22.4 GW—well below clear-sky potential for mid-August, consistent with 100% cloud cover and near-zero direct irradiance (6 W/m²). Wind contributes a combined 10.0 GW onshore and offshore, modest given the light 9.9 km/h winds. Thermal generation is elevated to compensate, with natural gas at 5.9 GW, hard coal at 4.7 GW, and brown coal at 3.7 GW, together providing 14.3 GW. Domestic generation totals 51.7 GW against 59.4 GW consumption, requiring approximately 7.7 GW of net imports; the day-ahead price of 141.3 EUR/MWh reflects this tight supply-demand balance and the cost of marginal thermal and imported generation.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a sky of pewter, the sun labors behind an impenetrable veil, and the furnaces of coal and gas rise to answer the call the clouds have muffled. Seven gigawatts cross the borders like silent tributaries feeding a restless, darkened river of demand.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 16%
Wind offshore 3%
Solar 43%
Biomass 7%
Hydro 3%
Natural gas 11%
Hard coal 9%
Brown coal 7%
72%
Renewable share
10.0 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
22.4 GW
Solar
51.7 GW
Total generation
7.7 GW
Net import
141.3 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
16.7°C / 10 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
100.0% / 6.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
184
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Solar 22.4 GW dominates the centre-right as vast fields of aluminium-framed crystalline silicon PV panels stretching across flat agricultural land, their surfaces reflecting only dull grey light under total overcast; wind onshore 8.4 GW occupies the far background as dozens of three-blade turbines on lattice and tubular towers turning slowly in light breeze across gentle hills; wind offshore 1.6 GW appears as a small cluster of turbines barely visible on a distant grey horizon line; natural gas 5.9 GW fills the centre-left as a compact CCGT power plant with twin exhaust stacks emitting thin heat shimmer; hard coal 4.7 GW appears left of centre as a large coal plant with rectangular cooling towers and conveyor belts feeding dark fuel; brown coal 3.7 GW occupies the far left as two hyperbolic concrete cooling towers with heavy white steam plumes rising into the overcast; biomass 3.6 GW is rendered as a medium-sized wood-chip power station with a squat smokestack and timber storage yard; hydro 1.3 GW appears as a small run-of-river dam on a wooded stream in the middle distance. TIME AND LIGHT: full midday daylight at 14:00 but entirely diffuse—no shadows, no sun disc visible, a heavy uniform cloud ceiling of flat silvery-grey pressing down oppressively, suggesting high electricity prices. The landscape is lush green late-summer German countryside with mature deciduous trees in full leaf, rye and wheat fields, temperature mild at 16.7°C. The atmosphere is humid and heavy, with a slightly yellowish industrial haze near the thermal plants. The entire scene is composed as a panoramic, highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape art—rich layered colour, visible impasto brushwork, atmospheric aerial perspective receding into misty distance—yet every turbine nacelle, every PV cell grid, every cooling tower's hyperbolic curve is rendered with meticulous engineering accuracy. No text, no labels, no people prominent.
Grid data: 17 August 2026, 14:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-17T12:20 UTC · Download image