1,769 MW wind generation at 18:30 today

Falling Irish wholesale electricity prices were the principal driver of the 1% month-on-month fall in the Bord Gáis Energy Index during December. Increased wind energy, which met a record 24% of the total electricity demand in December, combined with a reduction in electricity demand due to the mild weather, resulted in wholesale electricity prices dropping by 5% month-on-month.

For the 23,700 gigawatt-hours of electrical energy generated by wind in the UK between April 2011 and September 2012, only 22 GWh of electrical energy from fossil fuels "was needed to fill the gaps when the wind didn't blow,"
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Table 2 of the report shows the energy provided by the National Grid's Short Term Operating Reserve, and how much of that was due to wind energy output being lower than forecast. Of the 246 GWh provided by the Reserve for the same period, 22 GWh are thought to be due to the wind not blowing as forecast.

Gambas wrote: »

You didn't really mean bankrupted, did you. You just threw that ludicrous exaggeration in the hope that someone feeble minded might actually believe it. Isn't that right?

Like many countries, once promising advances in nuclear technologies have suddenly taken a backseat after Fukushima. Unlike America, Europe has not been able to transition to natural gas,

Wholesale power prices in Europe’s biggest economy plunged 32 percent since 2010 amid record wind and solar output and the weakest demand in four years. The cheapest coal since 2009 is spurring utilities to keep building plants burning the fuel. EON SE (EOAN) and RWE AG (RWE), the largest generators, will report lower profit this year, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

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Year-ahead electricity prices fell 19 percent to 36.80 euros ($50.30) a megawatt-hour in 2013. The contract closed at 35.90 euros yesterday, its lowest settlement since March 2005, and at 36.15 euros today, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg.

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Generating capacity will expand by 9.4 gigawatts this year, equal to 5.3 percent of current supply, according to Energy Brainpool GmbH & Co. KG. Renewable capacity will rise by 5.1 gigawatts and coal plants will supply most of the rest in their biggest expansion since at least 2000, the Berlin-based consultant estimates. A gigawatt of electricity, or 1,000 megawatts, is enough to power about 2 million European homes.
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EON, RWE and Stockholm-based Vattenfall AB, the three biggest utilities operating in Germany, plan to shutter more than 16 gigawatts of unprofitable generating capacity in central-west Europe in the four years through 2015, company filings show.

Jan 16 – The German energy network regulator, Bundesnetzagentur, has approved operators' requests to close 16 power plants with a combined capacity of 5,092 MW.

The plants are located mainly north of the river Main, where closure impacts less on security of power supply than in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg – the states most impacted by Germany's nuclear exit.