Grid Poet — 22 August 2026, 00:00
Gas, brown coal, and hard coal dominate midnight generation as Germany imports 10.4 GW to meet demand.
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Grid analysis Claude AI
At midnight on a late-August night, German demand sits at 39.9 GW against 29.5 GW of domestic generation, requiring approximately 10.4 GW of net imports. Fossil thermal plants carry the bulk of supply, with brown coal at 6.2 GW, natural gas at 6.3 GW, and hard coal at 4.9 GW collectively providing nearly 59% of generation. Wind contributes a combined 6.7 GW onshore and offshore, supplemented by 3.9 GW of biomass and 1.5 GW of hydro, bringing the renewable share to 41.3%. The day-ahead price of 168 EUR/MWh is elevated, consistent with heavy reliance on gas-fired marginal units and significant import volumes during a period of moderate wind and zero solar output.
Grid poem Claude AI
Beneath a clear and starlit summer vault, the furnaces breathe deep—coal towers exhale their pale columns into darkness while turbine blades turn slow, silver ghosts tracing circles no sleeping eye will see. The grid reaches across borders with outstretched copper arms, pulling power from distant lands to feed a nation's quiet, dreaming demand.
Generation mix
Wind onshore 17%
Wind offshore 6%
Biomass 13%
Hydro 5%
Natural gas 21%
Hard coal 17%
Brown coal 21%
41%
Renewable share
6.7 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.0 GW
Solar
29.5 GW
Total generation
10.4 GW
Net import
168.0 EUR/MWh
Day-ahead price
14.7°C / 9 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E) · surface estimate from 100 m wind
20.0% / 0.0 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
400
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Natural gas 6.3 GW dominates the centre-right as a cluster of compact CCGT power plants with tall single exhaust stacks emitting heat shimmer and faint flue gas, lit by sodium-orange industrial floodlights. Brown coal 6.2 GW occupies the left quarter as a massive lignite complex with three hyperbolic cooling towers releasing thick white steam plumes that drift into the black sky. Hard coal 4.9 GW appears centre-left as a large conventional coal station with twin chimneys and conveyor gantries, glowing amber from internal furnace light. Wind onshore 4.9 GW stretches across the distant right horizon as a row of tall three-blade turbines on lattice towers, their red aviation warning lights blinking against the night sky, blades turning slowly in light wind. Biomass 3.9 GW sits in the mid-ground right as a wood-chip-fueled plant with a modest smokestack and illuminated fuel storage domes. Wind offshore 1.8 GW is suggested far in the background as tiny blinking red lights on the horizon line. Hydro 1.5 GW appears as a small dam structure at the far left edge with water gleaming under moonlight. The sky is completely dark, deep navy-black, with scattered stars visible through only 20% cloud cover—thin high cirrus clouds faintly catching moonlight. The atmosphere feels heavy and oppressive despite the clear sky, conveying the high electricity price: a dense, brooding stillness hangs over the industrial landscape. Late-summer vegetation—dark green deciduous trees and dry grasses—frames the foreground, their forms barely visible. The temperature of 14.7°C is suggested by faint mist curling low over a river in the foreground that reflects the orange industrial glow. The entire scene is rendered as a highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters such as Caspar David Friedrich, with rich impasto brushwork, dramatic chiaroscuro between the black sky and the glowing industrial facilities, atmospheric depth receding into hazy distance, and meticulous engineering accuracy in every turbine nacelle, cooling tower profile, and exhaust stack. No text, no labels.
Grid data: 22 August 2026, 00:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-08-21T22:20 UTC · Download image