Europe’s dark, windless days show risk of renewables rollout

Lack of wind poses a significant issue for energy infrastructure that relies on renewables

Germany gets more than 49 gigawatts of wind power on the gustiest days, but only about 1% of that record was generated on Wednesday, with expensive fossil fuels plugging the gap. Picture: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Europe’s power prices soared to levels last seen during the energy crisis this week. Only it wasn’t a war or other geopolitical events that caused it, but the dark, windless weather that is all too common during winter.

The continent has rapidly expanded its capacity to generate wind and solar power but still relies on costly hydrocarbons as a backup. For instance, while Germany gets more than 49 gigawatts of wind power on the gustiest days, only about 1% of that record was generated on Wednesday, with expensive fossil fuels plugging the gap.