It looks like a long month of the dreaded "Dunkelflaute" is finally drawing to a close with winds returning to Germany. This is just one of the many problems (https://bit.ly/3jeG6nd) with the green ideal, especially applicable to Northern regions: No matter how much capacity is installed, there will always be times when wind and solar generate very little power for weeks on end.
The push to greater electrification will only make this problem worse. For example, transitioning from gas boilers to heat pumps will strongly increase winter peak load, requiring expensive expansions of transmission and distribution networks and backup power plants to secure supply during the Dunkelflaute. Electric vehicles also become considerably less efficient in winter, adding further load at the least convenient times.
How will the 55 GW of generation from coal, gas, and nuclear be replaced during weeks of wind-still winter in mid-century Germany? Batteries are a complete no-go for energy storage over such long timescales and power-to-H2-to-power will be super expensive due to the low round-trip efficiency and the cost of storing hydrogen. Most probably, natural gas and even coal will stick around much longer than green advocates envision.
It looks like a long month of the dreaded "Dunkelflaute" is finally drawing to a close with winds returning to Germany
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