{"id":354674,"date":"2024-12-16T17:47:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T16:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=354674"},"modified":"2024-12-16T17:47:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T16:47:02","slug":"germany-gets-dunkelfked-again-norway-to-dismantle-power-cables-to-europe-last-day-for-30-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=354674","title":{"rendered":"Germany Gets Dunkelf**ked Again, Norway to Dismantle Power Cables to Europe, Last Day For 30% Off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Robert Bryce\u2019s Substack<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another wind drought has led to soaring electricity prices across Europe. Norway, which exports power to its European neighbors, has seen enough.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Europe\u2019s electricity prices soared on Thursday amid a wind drought. Source:\u00a0Alexander Stahel on X<\/a>.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the second time in a month, Germany\u2019s electric grid has been hit by a wind drought, known in German as a Dunkelflaute.<\/em> The lack of wind sent Europe\u2019s electricity prices soaring to their highest levels since the end of 2022, when Europe was in the midst of an energy crisis due to concerns about supplies of Russian gas. That\u2019s saying something since Europe \u2014 and Germany in particular \u2014 now appears to be amid a permanent energy crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, German consumers paid an average of $400 per megawatt-hour for electricity. During peak times, prices in Germany\u2019s wholesale power market came close to $1,000 per MWh, the highest level in 18 years. Here\u2019s how a reporter with Spain\u2019s El Pais<\/em> newspaper explained the situation<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Dunkelflaute<\/em> is a cursed word in the German electricity sector. The combination, typical of cold anticyclones, of low temperatures (which increase demand) and the almost total absence of wind (which hinders wind generation) configures one of the worst possible scenarios for the price of electricity: it forces the burning of more gas in combined cycle plants, which are much more expensive, and that substantially increases the bill…The main factor behind this escalation is the lack of wind. While at this time of year Germany\u2019s powerful wind power sector (onshore and offshore) usually averages almost 20 gigawatts (GW) of power, according to data from the specialist portal Montel, thus becoming the country\u2019s main source of electricity, on Wednesday it will just exceed 3 GW. With the cloudy skies, solar photovoltaic power is also operating well below its potential and forces combined cycle plants \u2014 in which gas is burned to obtain electricity \u2014 to operate at a higher rate than usual, driving up prices.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The wind drought isn\u2019t just hitting Germany. As shown in the graphic at the top of this article, electricity prices across Europe soared amid the wind drought. In response, Norwegian politicians are promising to dismantle the undersea power cables that connect Norway\u2019s grid to mainland Europe to protect Norwegians from Europe\u2019s tumultuous electricity market. Electricity prices in Norway, which gets 90% of its power from hydro, hit record prices this week despite having full hydro reservoirs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the X account of Visegr\u00e1d 24, a Norwegian news outlet, the two links that connect Norway to Europe will reach their technical lifetimes in 2026 and 2027. The two cables have 9 GW of exchange capacity, of which 5.1 GW connects to Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and the UK. The outlet quoted Norway\u2019s energy minister as saying, \u201cIt\u2019s a shitty situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visegr\u00e1d 24 also quoted Sweden\u2019s deputy prime minister and energy minister, Ebba Busch, as being \u201cfurious with the Germans<\/a>.\u201d The article continued, explaining that due to Germany\u2019s decision to shutter its nuclear plants, \u201cpeople in southern Sweden and southern Norway now have [to] pay $5 for a 10-minute shower.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As seen above, Germany\u2019s wind energy production collapsed three times this week<\/a>. During each wind lull, the shortfall was made up by gas-fired generation. As I explained last month<\/a>, during the first Dunkelflaute<\/em> of the year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The latest wind drought provides more evidence of the foolishness of Germany\u2019s Energiewende<\/em>, an insanely expensive effort designed to force the country off of hydrocarbons and onto alt-energy. In September, a study published in the <\/a>International Journal of Sustainable Energy<\/a><\/em> estimated that between 2002 and 2022, the Energiewende<\/em> cost Germany $746 billion. Of that sum, more than half was spent on alt-energy production and distribution. The remainder was spent on subsidies. If Germany had spent about half that sum on nuclear energy, it would have achieved greater emissions reductions than it did by chasing the mirage of alt-energy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Things may be bad, but don\u2019t ever underestimate Germany\u2019s ability to make things even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I wrote in \u201cGermany Is Dunkelf**ked<\/a>,\u201d the German government plans to provide an additional $17 billion in subsidies for Germany\u2019s wind sector. Those new payments will be added to existing alt-energy subsidies, which the University of Cologne estimates will cost $19.3 billion in 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, on Wednesday, Bloomberg reported that the German government has \u201cdropped plans for a major expansion of gas-fired power plants<\/a> because of an absence of political support.\u201d The country was aiming to add 5 GW of new capacity in 2025 and another 5 GW by 2028, but the deal couldn\u2019t move forward due to last month\u2019s collapse of the coalition government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final note: This morning, I talked to a US energy industry veteran who is currently in Berlin attending an energy conference. I asked about the sentiment in Germany amid the Dunkelflaute. The veteran told me it was so cold in Berlin that he bought an extra hat to stay warm. \u201cIt\u2019s super cold, and there\u2019s no wind and no sun.\u201d As for the sentiment at the energy conference, he told me, \u201cGerman industry is fleeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Media hits<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was recently on the Americano podcast with The Spectator\u2019s<\/em> Freddy Gray. We talked at length about Chris Wright, energy humanism, and US energy policy. You can listen to that podcast here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days ago, I was on Australia\u2019s ADH TV talking to my friend Gerard Holland about the recent US election and what might happen under the Trump administration. You can watch that episode here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another wind drought has led to soaring electricity prices across Europe. Norway, which exports power to its European neighbors, has seen enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":354681,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819405,691819691,691818051,691832007],"class_list":["post-354674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dunkelflaute-or-dark-doldrums","tag-electricity-prices","tag-germany","tag-germany-is-dunkelfked","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/077353323-07cf-485c-95eb-21caaaf9d66d_1280x720.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ugy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":248482,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=248482","url_meta":{"origin":354674,"position":0},"title":"Norway rejects electricity cable project with Scotland","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/18\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"With a capacity of 1,400 MW, NorthConnect would have enabled the two countries to exchange renewable energies - wind power from Scotland, hydro power from Norway - via a 665-kilometre (413-mile) cable under the North Sea.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-706.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-706.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-706.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-706.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image-706.png?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":256408,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256408","url_meta":{"origin":354674,"position":1},"title":"In Norway, resistance to energy exports to Germany is growing","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In Norway, resistance to sharing electricity with Germany is growing, although Economy Minister Habeck made a deal in January for a hydrogen pipeline between the two countries to produce electricity. 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