3 ms·

It is overall a net exporter but in winter when there is no wind, Germany rely more on its neighborhood. Average are misleading.

• jnxx 6y ago
  German winters are quite windy, especially near the coast. Solar (photovoltaic) has its maximum around noon, when there is high demand. The irony is that in summer, it has happened in several warm years now that nuclear power plants in France had to shut down - they are cooled by rivers and when the water level becomes too low, they need to shut off to maintain safety and avoid ecological damage. These are the times when Germany exports most electricity to France.
  • Kuinox 6y ago
    Yes, they shut down to not kill the fish in the river, not because the water is not cold enough. But this problem was/will be solved by adding more air cooling.
  • rnhmjoj 6y ago
    > Solar (photovoltaic) has its maximum around noon, when there is high demand. I think it's exactly the opposite: see [1]. It's a increasingly big problem as more renewable sources are deployed. The peak demand happens at mid-evening and morning hours while, as you said, peak production from renewables is around noon. A possible solution is energy storage but, as far as I now, it's not yet common and not always available depending on the location and type of plant. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_curve
• cygx 6y ago
  You're aware that it's France that nearly crashes the European grid every other winter? Some German articles on the topic: 2012: https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Warten-auf-den-Blackout-in-Frankreich-3393061.html https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Warten-auf-den-Blackout-in-... 2017: https://www.heise.de/tp/news/Atom-Frankreich-versucht-Blackout-abzuwenden-3599885.html https://www.heise.de/tp/news/Atom-Frankreich-versucht-Blacko... 2019: https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Alle-Jahre-wieder-Frankreich-am-grossen-Blackout-vorbeigeschrammt-4273544.html https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Alle-Jahre-wieder-Frankreic...