Germany Redispatch Monitor

Redispatch refers to power plant adjustments ordered by Transmission System Operators (TSOs) to prevent grid congestion. When too much electricity flows through a bottleneck, wind farms in the North are curtailed (negative redispatch) while conventional plants in the South ramp up (positive redispatch). Germany spent over €4 billion on redispatch in 2023.

Daily costs vary significantly. On windy days, costs can exceed €5-10 million due to massive wind curtailment in Northern Germany. Our data shows real-time costs calculated from SMARD aggregate data and plant-level Netztransparenz reports.

TenneT DE typically has the highest volume as their grid zone covers the main North-South bottleneck corridor. 50Hertz (Northeast) follows closely. Both handle primarily wind energy curtailment. Amprion and TransnetBW in the South manage conventional ramp-ups.

Grid physics: electricity must flow where the wires can carry it. When Northern wind output exceeds transmission capacity to Southern demand centers, curtailment is the only immediate option. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) can solve this by storing excess wind locally.

Battery storage at grid congestion points can absorb excess wind energy (during curtailment) and discharge during peak demand. A 100 MW / 400 MWh BESS at a typical bottleneck could save €2-5 million/year in avoided redispatch costs. Learn more at stromfee.ai/academy.

We combine two official sources: (1) SMARD from Bundesnetzagentur provides 15-minute aggregate redispatch volumes for all of Germany, and (2) Netztransparenz.de provides plant-level detail including specific power plant names, instructing/requesting TSOs, fuel types, and exact energy volumes.

SMARD data updates every 15 minutes with near real-time aggregate volumes. Netztransparenz plant-level data has a 1-3 day delay as individual measures must be reported and verified by the TSOs.

Countertrading is cross-border redispatch: buying/selling electricity at different borders to relieve internal congestion. It is typically cheaper than domestic redispatch but depends on neighboring countries having available capacity.

Our database currently tracks 501 individual power plants that have received redispatch instructions. The majority are wind farms in Northern Germany (TenneT/50Hertz zones) and conventional plants in Southern Germany (Amprion/TransnetBW zones).

Yes! Our REST API at stromfee.club/api/redispatch.php provides JSON data for all redispatch metrics. Available endpoints: current, daily, weekly, plants, tso. Contact us at vertrieb@stromfee.ai for API documentation.

Negative redispatch = curtailment (reducing output, typically wind/solar). Positive redispatch = ramp-up (increasing output, typically gas/coal). Both are ordered by TSOs to maintain grid stability within transmission limits.

Wind speed is the primary driver. Storm days can cause 5-10x normal redispatch volumes as massive wind output in the North cannot be transmitted South. Our reports include weather correlation data from Hamburg (North) and Munich (South).

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Germany has a structural grid bottleneck: wind energy is concentrated in the North (offshore/onshore) while industrial demand centers are in the South (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg). Until new HVDC lines (SuedLink, SuedOstLink) are completed (~2028), redispatch will remain the costly workaround.

Each plant in our database has its own page with historical redispatch data. Use the search above or browse the Top 10 table. Plant pages show: total MWh affected, frequency of measures, TSO interactions, and trend analysis.