Grid Poet — 19 August 2026, 20:00
Wind and coal anchor domestic generation as Germany imports over 20 GW to meet high evening demand under overcast skies.
Back
← older newer →
Grid analysis Claude AI
At 20:00 on a warm August evening, German generation totals 33.7 GW against consumption of 54.2 GW, requiring approximately 20.5 GW of net imports. Renewable output stands at 16.6 GW (49.2% of generation), driven primarily by 11.0 GW of combined wind and 4.1 GW of biomass, while solar has effectively ceased at 0.2 GW following sunset. Thermal dispatchables are running at elevated levels—brown coal at 6.0 GW, natural gas at 6.8 GW, and hard coal at 4.3 GW—reflecting the high residual load and tight supply conditions. The day-ahead price of 209.4 EUR/MWh is consistent with the large import requirement and the need to clear expensive marginal generation across the interconnected European market.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a starless canopy of cloud, the furnaces breathe deep, their orange throats aglow—while turbines on the darkened ridge turn ceaselessly, whispering of a power the night alone cannot provide. Germany draws from distant wells of current, a continent's veins humming through copper and steel to feed the evening's insatiable demand.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 26%
Wind offshore 7%
Solar 1%
Biomass 12%
Hydro 4%
Natural gas 20%
Hard coal 13%
Brown coal 18%
49%
Renewable share
11.0 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.2 GW
Solar
33.7 GW
Total generation
20.5 GW
Net import
209.4 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
18.1°C / 13 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
100.0% / 0.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
341
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Wind onshore 8.7 GW dominates the right third of the scene as dozens of tall three-blade turbines on lattice and tubular towers stretching across rolling hills, rotors turning in moderate wind. Brown coal 6.0 GW occupies the far left as a cluster of massive hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white-grey steam plumes rising into darkness, lit from below by orange sodium lights of the plant complex. Natural gas 6.8 GW fills the left-centre as a row of compact CCGT power stations with slim exhaust stacks emitting thin heat shimmer, their steel structures illuminated by harsh industrial floodlights. Hard coal 4.3 GW appears centre-left as a large conventional power station with a single tall chimney and coal conveyors, glowing under amber work lights. Biomass 4.1 GW is represented centre-right as a mid-sized industrial facility with a woodchip storage dome and a modest smokestack, warmly lit. Wind offshore 2.3 GW appears in the distant far right as a faint line of turbine aviation warning lights blinking red on the dark horizon, suggesting a North Sea wind farm. Hydro 1.3 GW is a small concrete dam and penstock structure nestled in a valley in the mid-right, water glinting faintly under a single floodlight. Solar 0.2 GW is effectively absent—no panels visible, no sunlight. Time is 20:00 in August: the sky is fully dark, deep navy-black, 100% cloud cover so no stars or moon are visible, creating a heavy oppressive ceiling. The only light comes from artificial sources—sodium streetlamps casting orange pools along roads, industrial floodlights on plant structures, red aviation beacons atop turbine nacelles and smokestacks. The landscape is lush late-summer German countryside with dark green deciduous trees and fields barely visible in the ambient industrial glow. Temperature is mild at 18°C; the air feels humid and close. The atmosphere is heavy and oppressive, reflecting the extreme 209 EUR/MWh price—a brooding industrial tableau. Overhead high-voltage transmission lines with steel lattice pylons cross the scene diagonally, cables sagging with heavy current flow, suggesting massive imports. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters such as Caspar David Friedrich and Carl Blechen, but depicting an industrial nocturne—rich dark tones of umber, Prussian blue, and cadmium orange, visible impasto brushwork, atmospheric depth with haze around cooling tower plumes, meticulous engineering detail on every turbine nacelle, cooling tower profile, and gas turbine exhaust stack. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 19 August 2026, 20:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-19T18:20 UTC · Download image