The Germans are smoking coal again

The same as last year

My readers may remember that last year I wrote an article on Dunkelflaute and how Germany essentially kept its fossil fuel plants on standby.

This year, with low wind activity and minimal sunlight (it is winter, after all), Germany has again had to rely on its two most reliable fuel sources

• Natural Gas

• And dirty King Coal

The consequence of this is that the German government gets to brag that they aren’t generating as much electricity from fossil fuels anymore (which is true), but what they aren’t saying is that they need fossil fuels for the system to remain reliable.

Getting accurate estimates as to how much two systems would cost is always going to be challenging, especially with all of the policies involved. But we are seeing signs that it isn’t exactly a cheap exercise.