‘We’re hardly producing any power’: Can Europe’s solar boom survive a cloudy winter?
A prolonged period of cloudy and windless weather can throttle Europe's solar and wind generations, often causing the grid to rely on polluting back-up sources.
The European solar sector faces a looming challenge in the form of a "dunkelflaute," a German term signifying an extended period of low or absent wind and solar power generation. This phenomenon is expected to commence from October through February in Northern Europe, compounded by short daylight hours, heavy cloud cover, and fog.
Concurrently, energy consumption escalates due to chilly temperatures driving up demand for heating. During multi-day dunkelflauten, Europe's energy grid becomes increasingly reliant on costly backup generation, such as natural gas.
The implications of such an occurrence are palpable. For instance, on 29 October, German day-ahead power prices soared above €300 per megawatt-hour, roughly double the average for the month. Hourly rates even reached above €500 during the evening peak. EU households equipped with solar panels are also grappling with higher energy bills.
In the UK, a resident with 12 solar panels, each with a combined capacity of 6.36 kW, experienced a significant reduction in power generation during overcast conditions. When the city was cloaked in clouds on 4 November, the panels produced a mere 10.90 kWh, necessitating an additional 27.40 kWh from the grid. On a completely overcast day (5 November), the household generated just 2.40 kWh and imported 20.60 kWh.
The winter months witness a considerable dip in solar power generation. In the EU, solar's share of electricity generation plummeted from 25.4% in June to 13.2% in October. While solar panels generate electricity regardless of the weather, their output is decidedly lower during winter. Nevertheless, hydroelectric power steps in to fill the gap, with production levels surging in the EU since October.
Solar panels can still generate a portion of their annual output even in winter, providing a buffer against winter energy bills. Additionally, solar power proved instrumental in mitigating electricity spikes triggered by heatwaves, as evidenced by its enhanced performance during the June heatwave in several European countries.
Written by urgent.news from Euronews's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
