03Where does power flow, and why do prices split?
Curtailment: the wind and solar the grid can't carry
How much clean electricity does Germany throw away because the lines are full, and who pays?
When the grid cannot carry the power, wind and solar plants are switched off, or curtailed. Over the two years to 15 October 2026, Wattlas values the curtailment the German grid operators report at roughly €1.1 billion, using a reference rate of €80/MWh.
For scale, a report by Beyond Fossil Fuels, E3G, Ember and IEEFA (May 2025) put the 2024 cost of curtailment across seven European markets at about €7.2 billion, a wider scope than this Germany-only series.
The euro figure is an estimate at a reference rate; the settled cost differs by plant and year.
Why clean power gets switched off
Germany's best wind sites are in the north and along the coast, while much of its demand and heavy industry sits in the south and west. The high-voltage grid was built when power plants stood close to the cities and factories they supplied, and the new north–south lines are running years late. On a windy day those lines fill before all the power can be moved, and the grid operator, the company that runs the high-voltage grid, orders wind farms on the crowded side to cut their output.
German law compensates a curtailed plant for the revenue it gives up. That payment, together with the cost of turning plants up on the far side of the bottleneck, is mostly passed on through the network charges in electricity bills; in 2026 a federal grant also covers part of the transmission charges. A grid problem in the north therefore reaches households across the country, and Electricity Bill Breakdown shows how large those charges are.
Curtailment runs higher on days when the price falls below zero, so the chart draws the two together. A windy, sunny day can produce more power than the zone can use and more than the lines can carry. The remedies under discussion include more lines, storage beside the wind farms, and demand that moves to where the power is. The argument over splitting the German price zone to encourage that is set out on Locational Signal.
Questions
How much does renewable curtailment cost in Germany?
About €1.1 billion over the two years to 15 October 2026, estimated at a reference rate of €80/MWh; the billed figure varies by plant and year.
How these numbers are made: Curtailment cost at a reference price.
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