Gas, brown coal, and heavy imports drive Germany's evening grid as wind and solar fade at nightfall.
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Generation mix
Wind onshore 11%
Wind offshore 0%
Solar 0%
Biomass 13%
Hydro 4%
Natural gas 32%
Hard coal 13%
Brown coal 26%
30%
Renewable share
4.1 GW
Wind (on + offshore)
0.1 GW
Solar
35.1 GW
Total generation
-24.7 GW
Net import
234.3 €/MWh
Day-ahead price
12.4°C / 9 km/h
Temp / Wind speed
Open-Meteo, Kassel (51.3°N 9.5°E)
17.0% / 28.2 W/m²
Cloud cover / Radiation
464
gCO₂/kWh
Image prompt
Natural gas 11.2 GW dominates the centre-right as a sprawling complex of combined-cycle gas turbine units with tall single exhaust stacks venting heat shimmer into the night; brown coal 9.0 GW fills the left quarter as massive hyperbolic cooling towers with thick white-grey steam plumes lit from below by orange sodium lamps; hard coal 4.6 GW appears as a smaller cluster of rectangular boiler houses with twin smokestacks just left of centre; biomass 4.6 GW is rendered as a mid-sized industrial plant with a rounded fuel dome and conveyor belts at centre-left; onshore wind 3.9 GW stands as a modest row of three-blade turbines on a low ridge in the far right background, their rotors barely turning in gentle 9 km/h winds; hydro 1.6 GW appears as a concrete dam spillway glimpsed in the far distance. Time is 20:00 in mid-April: the sky is fully dark, deep navy-black, no twilight glow remains, stars faintly visible through 17% cloud wisps. All illumination is artificial — harsh sodium-orange streetlights cast long shadows across industrial roads, control-room windows glow white-blue, aircraft warning lights blink red atop cooling towers and turbine nacelles. The atmosphere feels heavy and oppressive, reflecting a 234 EUR/MWh price — a thick industrial haze hangs at low altitude, trapping the amber light. Spring vegetation: fresh green grass and budding deciduous trees along a canal in the foreground, visible only in the sodium lamplight. Temperature 12.4°C suggests a mild damp evening; faint mist rises from a cooling-water canal. Highly detailed oil painting in the tradition of 19th-century German Romantic landscape painters — rich, moody colour palette of deep indigo, amber, and slate; visible textured brushwork; atmospheric depth with layered planes receding into darkness. Meticulous engineering detail on every structure: lattice towers for turbines, aluminium nacelle housings, riveted steel boiler casings, concrete hyperbolic shell geometry on cooling towers. The scene evokes the sublime tension between industrial might and nocturnal stillness — a masterwork painting of the modern industrial landscape. No text, no labels.