Grid Poet — 21 August 2026, 22:00
Coal and gas dominate nighttime generation as 15.7 GW net imports bridge a wide supply gap under overcast skies.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At 22:00 on a late-summer evening, German consumption stands at 45.5 GW against domestic generation of 29.8 GW, requiring approximately 15.7 GW of net imports. Thermal plants carry the bulk of dispatchable supply, with brown coal at 6.8 GW, natural gas at 6.6 GW, and hard coal at 5.2 GW collectively providing 62% of domestic output. Renewables contribute 37.4% — predominantly biomass (4.2 GW) and onshore wind (4.2 GW), with no solar contribution at this hour. The day-ahead price of 187.4 EUR/MWh reflects the tight supply-demand balance and heavy reliance on imports and fossil-fueled marginal generation during a period of full cloud cover and modest wind.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a lidless sky of coal-black cloud, the furnaces breathe for a nation that sleeps — their amber glow the only dawn this darkness knows. Beyond the borders, invisible rivers of current flow inward, paying the toll of a summer night starved of sun and wind.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 14%
Wind offshore 4%
Biomass 14%
Hydro 5%
Natural gas 22%
Hard coal 18%
Brown coal 23%
37%
Renewable share
5.4 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.0 GW
Solar
29.8 GW
Total generation
15.7 GW
Net import
187.4 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
17.2°C / 19 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
428
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Brown coal 6.8 GW dominates the left quarter as three massive hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white-grey steam plumes rising into a pitch-black sky, their concrete surfaces lit from below by orange sodium lamps; hard coal 5.2 GW sits just right of centre as a sprawling dark industrial complex with conveyor belts, tall chimneys trailing thin smoke, and red aviation warning lights; natural gas 6.6 GW occupies the centre-right as two compact CCGT power stations with single tall exhaust stacks emitting translucent heat shimmer, lit by harsh white floodlights; onshore wind 4.2 GW appears as a row of modern three-blade turbines on a ridge in the mid-background, their red nacelle lights blinking against the darkness, blades turning at moderate speed in 19 km/h wind; offshore wind 1.3 GW is suggested far in the background as faint clusters of blinking red dots on the horizon line; biomass 4.2 GW is rendered as a mid-sized industrial facility with a rounded wood-chip silo and a single smokestack with faint warm exhaust, lit by yellowish industrial lighting; hydro 1.5 GW appears as a small dam structure in the far left background with subtle white water cascading and a single floodlight. The sky is entirely overcast, 100% cloud cover, completely dark — deep black-navy with no stars, no moon, no twilight glow — a heavy oppressive canopy reflecting the 187.4 EUR/MWh price tension. Late August vegetation: dark green deciduous trees barely visible in the foreground, summer grass. The ground is damp-looking. A network of high-voltage transmission lines with lattice pylons crosses the scene left to right, their cables faintly glinting in the industrial light, symbolising the heavy import flows. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters — rich chiaroscuro, visible impasto brushwork, dramatic atmospheric depth — but with meticulous engineering accuracy on every turbine nacelle, cooling tower, and exhaust stack. The mood is sombre, industrial, monumental. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 21 August 2026, 22:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-21T20:20 UTC · Download image