European wind, solar output peaks at record 186 GW, pressuring prices

European solar and wind generation peaked at 186 GW on March 13, the highest combined hourly production peak registered by system data aggregated by S&P Global Commodity Insights.

For midday hour 11, wind generated some 121 GW and solar 61 GW across Europe, according to WindEurope and British system data with daily wind generation exceeding 3 TWh for the first time.

Germany, which saw combined generation peak around 57 GW, registered two hours of negative prices amid indications of wind curtailment especially during solar peaks.

The daily average capture price for German onshore wind meanwhile was pegged at Eur97.55/MWh ($105/MWh) for March 13, S&P Global data showed.

German solar was pegged at Eur85.26/MWh, the data tracking hourly generation and price on a daily basis showed.

Installed solar and wind capacity across Europe is approaching the 500 GW mark this summer with some 255 GW wind installed across Europe by end-2022 and some 209 GW solar in the EU alone, according to sector associations WindEurope and SolarPowerEurope.