Germany’s day-ahead electricity prices soared by 29% on Wednesday as a heatwave across Europe boosted cooling demand while low wind speeds reduced wind power generation.
The lower wind speeds and the resulting lower power output from wind turbines are raising the need to fire up natural gas and coal-fired power production, which is more expensive than wind power generation.
An early heatwave is sweeping through northwest Europe with unusually high temperatures these days, lifting demand for air conditioning.
Forecasts for Thursday’s wind power generation in Germany are half compared to Wednesday. Wind is expected to supply just 4.4 gigawatts (GW) of electricity on Thursday, down from an estimated 9.7 GW wind power output on Wednesday, according to data from LSEG cited by Reuters.
At the same time, the expected load from non-renewable power sources is expected to jump by 8.2 GW from Wednesday to 23.5 GW on Thursday, the data showed.
Wind power generation in Germany jumped by 27% in the first quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, an analysis of the Germany-based International Economic Forum for Renewable Energies (IWR) showed in April.
Higher capacity installations and wind speeds drove the rise in power generation from wind turbines. Germany added an estimated 5 GW of wind power turbines last year, boosting overall capacity, while wind speed conditions were more favorable early this year compared to the first half of 2025.
As wind power generation grew, Germany’s electricity power prices fell by 8.9% in the first half of the year.
“The sharp increase in wind power generation has significantly eased the electricity market. Without this growth, Germany would have had to rely more heavily on comparatively expensive gas-fired power plants – with correspondingly higher stock exchange electricity prices,” Dr. Norbert Allnoch, chief executive of the IWR, commented.
But wind power generation could slow down amid heatwaves in the summer, leading to higher power prices in Germany.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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