Grid Poet — 20 August 2026, 00:00
Coal and gas dominate midnight generation while 10.4 GW net imports cover the supply gap under overcast skies.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At midnight on 20 August 2026, German consumption stands at 42.4 GW against domestic generation of 32.0 GW, requiring approximately 10.4 GW of net imports. Thermal generation is substantial: brown coal provides 6.0 GW, hard coal 4.7 GW, and natural gas 7.2 GW, together accounting for 55.9% of domestic output. Wind contributes a combined 8.8 GW (onshore 7.9, offshore 0.9), a moderate but not exceptional performance given the low surface wind speeds of 3.2 km/h in central Germany—offshore and northern onshore sites are clearly carrying most of that output. The day-ahead price of 172.7 EUR/MWh reflects the tight supply-demand balance, high thermal dispatch costs, and reliance on imports during a summer nighttime period with zero solar contribution.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a starless August vault the furnaces breathe their ancient carbon hymn, coal towers rising like cathedral spires in the dark. The turbines turn in distant northern winds, but the grid thirsts deeper than the night can slake.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 25%
Wind offshore 3%
Biomass 12%
Hydro 4%
Natural gas 23%
Hard coal 15%
Brown coal 19%
44%
Renewable share
8.9 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.0 GW
Solar
32.0 GW
Total generation
10.4 GW
Net import
172.7 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
17.0°C / 3 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
376
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Brown coal 6.0 GW occupies the left quarter as a cluster of massive hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white steam plumes rising into the black sky, lit from below by orange sodium lamps; hard coal 4.7 GW appears just right of centre as a large coal-fired power station with two tall chimneys trailing grey smoke, conveyor belts and coal stockpiles faintly visible under industrial floodlights; natural gas 7.2 GW fills the centre-right as three compact CCGT units with slender exhaust stacks emitting thin heat shimmer, their steel housings reflecting amber security lighting; wind onshore 7.9 GW spans the far right third as a line of tall three-blade turbines on lattice towers, their red aviation warning lights blinking against the darkness, rotors turning slowly; wind offshore 0.9 GW is suggested by a small cluster of turbines on the distant horizon near the right edge; biomass 3.9 GW appears as a mid-sized industrial plant with a wooden-chip silo and a single stack producing faint exhaust, positioned between the coal and gas facilities; hydro 1.2 GW is rendered as a modest dam structure with spillway water visible at the far left edge, illuminated by a single floodlight. The sky is completely black with heavy 100% overcast—no stars, no moon, no twilight glow—a dense oppressive ceiling of cloud barely distinguishable from the void, conveying the high electricity price. The season is late summer: deciduous trees in full dark-green foliage frame the foreground, leaves motionless in the nearly calm 3.2 km/h air. The temperature of 17°C is suggested by slight ground-level mist drifting across a flat German lowland landscape. No solar panels anywhere. Painted in the style of a highly detailed 19th-century German Romantic oil painting—rich impasto brushwork, deep chiaroscuro, atmospheric depth—but with meticulous engineering accuracy for every turbine nacelle, cooling tower profile, and exhaust stack. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 20 August 2026, 00:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-19T22:20 UTC · Download image