Germany’s power grid is at its limit. At 5 p.m. yesterday, wind and solar generation stagnated throughout the country (as well as in neighboring Denmark) and the price of electricity rose up to 936 euros the megawatt-hour.

A phenomenon called dunkelflute. The Germans call the windless cold ‘dunkelflaute’, a perfect storm that strangles photovoltaic production and paralyzes wind turbines alike. Typical of cold low temperature anticyclonesfurther increase the demand for heating throughout the region.

The term comes from the German words ‘dunkel’ (dark) and ‘flute’ (calm), but the calm and dark winters of Germany have never had such a weight as they have had in recent years on the electricity bill. .

The daily average was close to €400/MWh. Nine times the price of natural gas, a disproportionate figure for a mix that at 5 p.m. It was divided between 3% hydraulic, 8% biomass, 10% wind, 25% gas and 30% coal.

The peak of €936/MWh triples and even five times the highest price at which electricity was purchased in France (70% nuclear energy at 17:00), the Nordic countries (90% hydraulic energy) or Poland (65 % carbon).

Stress on the German power grid. German grid operators struggled to meet demand due to weak wind and solar production, a reminder that renewables are intermittent and require investments in storage and alternative clean energy. Or a transition energy.

The price of electricity in Germany has risen by 585.23% since the beginning of 2024 in the spot index. The closure of nuclear power plants forced reopen some coal plants. Luckily, drawing on gas reserves will not be a problem this winter. Compared to 98% filling in the first months of November, German reserves today are around 87%enough to get through the season. One less problem to worry about.

Image | Rehman Abubakr (CC BY-SA 4.0)