Germany's energy crisis intensifies, with two brief wind-free periods pushing the power grid to its limits! – Watt?

Author: P. Gosselin

Two brief wind downturns push Germany’s power supplies to their limits…

German Chemical Industry Association: “What a despair.

Author: Professor Fritz Vahrenholt

Germany's renewable energy power supply collapsed from November 2-8 and December 10-13 due to typical winter weather conditions with weakened winds and minimal solar radiation, leading to supply shortages, high electricity imports and skyrocketing electricity prices.

At times, more than 20,000 megawatts of electricity (more than a quarter of Germany's electricity needs) must be imported. Electricity prices have increased tenfold (93.6 €ct/kWh). Companies without long-term contracts had to halt production. Wolfgang Große Entrup, Managing Director of the German Chemical Industry Association (VCI): “This is desperate. Our companies and our country cannot afford normal production. We urgently need power plants that can intervene safely.

The reason: On April 1, 2023 alone, the socialist/green-led coalition government and Merkel’s previous government had decommissioned 19 nuclear power plants (30% of Germany’s electricity needs) and 15 coal-fired ones Power plants are withdrawn from the grid. 4.35 billion euros of taxpayers' retirement contributions are allocated to RWE and LEAG (East Germany). In January 2025, RWE's Weisweiler power plant will be shut down. Of all the months, this will happen in January, when Germany's electricity consumption is highest and France's electricity supply is likely to be low. This is because France is the most heat-sensitive country in Europe, and even small fluctuations in temperature can have an impact on electricity consumption due to the widespread use of electric heating systems. If the temperature drops by 1 degree Celsius, France’s electricity consumption will increase by 2,400 megawatts!

But Germany’s misguided energy policy of shutting down safe power is now also causing economic hardship for our neighbors. Electricity prices in southern Norway, southern Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands are similar to those in Germany during the dark downturn (see chart above, numbers are in EUR/MWh, to convert to EUR/kWh you have to divide by 10).

Denmark's electricity supply is also dominated by wind power (56%), but imports from Scandinavia have also exacerbated the local slump.

Terja Aasland, energy minister in Norway's center-left government, wants to cut cables to Denmark and renegotiate power contracts with Germany. He was therefore responding to demands from the right-wing Progress Party, which has long called for it and could win the next election. The Progressive Party believes that price contamination from the south must be stopped.

Swedish Energy Minister Ebba Busch was even clearer: “Industrial economies can hardly rely on the mercy of the weather gods to prosper.” Directly targeting Habeck’s green policies: “No amount of political will is enough to override the laws of physics. Above—not even Mr. Habeck's.”

People also often forget that wind turbines consume electricity when they are stationary or turned off. This is because all technical components (oil pumps, fans, control systems, etc.) must remain operational even when stationary. Vestas specifies that the 4.2 MW turbine consumes 55,000 kWh per year when not in operation. During production, the turbine supplies its own power. But it is actually idle 120 days a year.

If we assume that all German turbines consume an average of 40,000 kWh per year, we get 1.2 TWh, equivalent to the output of a medium-sized gas-fired power plant. In terms of turbines, the approximately 400 MW power plant must operate continuously or else the same output must be imported for days in a row to prevent the wind turbines from shutting down.

Full article from Climate News.

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