Grid Poet — 19 May 2026, 02:00

Brown coal, gas, and hard coal dominate a calm, import-dependent night with elevated prices at 139 EUR/MWh.

Grid analysis Claude AI

At 02:00 on a cool May night, Germany's grid draws 41.7 GW against only 28.5 GW of domestic generation, resulting in approximately 13.2 GW of net imports. Brown coal leads the domestic merit order at 8.8 GW, followed by natural gas at 6.7 GW, biomass at 4.1 GW, and hard coal at 3.7 GW — together these thermal sources provide 23.3 GW or about 82% of domestic output. Wind contributes a modest 3.9 GW combined onshore and offshore under near-calm conditions (2.1 km/h), while solar is absent as expected at this hour. The day-ahead price of 139.3 EUR/MWh is elevated, consistent with heavy reliance on thermal generation and significant import volumes needed to cover the demand gap.

Grid poem Claude AI

Beneath a starless vault of slate, the furnaces of lignite breathe their ancient carbon skyward, feeding the sleepless grid its dark and costly bread. The wind has abandoned its post, and the land draws power from beyond its borders like a body pulling warmth from distant fires.

Generation mix

Wind onshore 13%

Wind offshore 1%

Biomass 14%

Hydro 5%

Natural gas 24%

Hard coal 13%

Brown coal 31%

33%

Renewable share

3.9 GW

Wind (on + offshore)

0.0 GW

Solar

28.5 GW

Total generation

-13.2 GW

Net import

139.3 €/MWh

Day-ahead price

6.4°C / 2 km/h

Temp / Wind speed

Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E)

100% / 0.0 W/m²

Cloud cover / Radiation

465

gCO₂/kWh

Image prompt

Brown coal 8.8 GW dominates the left third of the scene as a massive lignite power station with four hyperbolic cooling towers emitting thick white-grey steam plumes into the black night sky; natural gas 6.7 GW fills the centre-left as a cluster of compact CCGT units with tall single exhaust stacks topped with orange-lit flare tips; biomass 4.1 GW appears centre-right as a squat industrial plant with a tall cylindrical smokestack and piles of wood chips visible under sodium-yellow floodlights; hard coal 3.7 GW occupies the right-centre as a coal-fired station with conveyor belts and a pair of rectangular cooling structures; wind onshore 3.6 GW is rendered as a sparse row of three-blade turbines with lattice towers standing motionless on a dark ridge in the right background; hydro 1.4 GW appears as a small concrete dam with a faintly illuminated spillway at the far right edge. 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 above, conveying the weight of a 139 EUR/MWh price. The landscape is a flat central German plain at 6.4°C in mid-May, with fresh spring grass and leafy trees barely visible in the darkness, dampened by a cold still atmosphere with no wind motion. Artificial light dominates: sodium streetlamps cast amber pools along access roads, industrial floodlights illuminate the plant structures in harsh white and yellow, and the cooling tower steam glows faintly orange from below. High-voltage transmission pylons recede into the darkness carrying imported power. Style: highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painting — rich, moody colour palette of deep blacks, warm ambers, and cold greys, with visible impasto brushwork, atmospheric depth, and chiaroscuro contrasts between lit industrial structures and the surrounding darkness. Meticulous engineering detail on all turbine nacelles, cooling tower shells, exhaust stacks, and transmission infrastructure. No text, no labels.

Grid data: 19 May 2026, 02:00 (Berlin time) · Generated 2026-05-19T01:53 UTC · Download image