The “Dunkelflaute” (dark doldrums of no sun and no wind) has forced Germany to connect more coal plants to the electricity grid. But it might not be enough, if it gets colder. With temperatures at −10°C, it would be an endgame, Tobias Federico from Montel Analytics told the Munich-based Merkur daily.
Around Nov. 6 afterwards, the Dunkelflaute struck, causing expensive gas and coal-fired power plants to be activated. In principle, the situation was manageable: “We were on our last legs, even the oil-fired power plants were running,” said Federico. But: “We still had 7 GW of coal-fired power plant capacity in reserve.” However, the mild weather helped: “Fortunately, it wasn’t a cold lull: France needs 1 GW of capacity for every degree the temperature drops and, in case of doubt, has to import. At −10°C, we wouldn’t have been able to supply that either.”
