Residual Load in Europe: Demand Minus Wind and Solar, to 2026-11-05 (5 November 2026)

Across 37 European bidding zones, wind and solar together supplied a median 27% of demand from 7 October to 5 November 2026, ranging from 2% in Slovakia to 180% in Sweden North-Central (SE2). In 17 zones they covered all of demand in at least one hour, and in 5 they covered at least half of it in more than half of all hours.

Residual load is what hydro, nuclear, thermal plants, storage and imports have to supply once wind and solar have produced what they can. Hourly ENTSO-E data for 37 bidding zones over 7 October to 5 November 2026, in each zone's own local time. A window of a few weeks, not a yearly average: the seasonal view below adds the last 12 months.

Key Facts

From 7 October to 5 November 2026, wind and solar supplied 180% of demand in Sweden North-Central (SE2), the highest of 37 European bidding zones, and a median 27% across all of them.
Wind and solar covered at least half of demand in more than half of all hours in 5 of 37 zones (Sweden North-Central (SE2), Sweden North (SE1), Italy South and 2 more), and covered all of it in at least one hour in 17 zones.
The highest hour of residual load was a median 8% below the highest hour of demand, so wind and solar reduced the peak other plants had to meet by that much in the 7 October to 5 November 2026 window.
In 32 of 37 zones the typical day's residual load peaked in the evening, between 17:00 and 22:00 local time.
Germany and Luxembourg, the largest zone in the set, had an average residual load of 27,616 MW against average demand of 54,996 MW, ranging from -9,272 MW to 60,686 MW hour to hour.

What the Numbers Show

7 October to 5 November 2026

Coverage differs enormously between zones. Wind and solar supplied 180% of demand in Sweden North-Central (SE2) and 2% in Slovakia. The five highest were Sweden North-Central (SE2), Sweden North (SE1), Italy South, Denmark West (DK1) and Italy Sicily; 7 of 37 zones were below 10%, including Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway South-East (NO1) and 4 more. The median zone sat at 27%. Coverage above 100% means the zone produced more wind and solar than it used over the window.

Full coverage is common in a few zones and rare in most. Wind and solar were at or above demand in at least one hour in 17 of 37 zones, and in at least a tenth of all hours in 9 of them (Sweden North-Central (SE2), Sweden North (SE1), Italy South, Denmark West (DK1) and 5 more). In 5 zones they covered at least half of demand in more than half of the hours: Sweden North-Central (SE2), Sweden North (SE1), Italy South, Denmark West (DK1) and Italy Calabria. The data does not say where the surplus went: it can be exported, stored or curtailed.

Wind and solar cut the peak far less than they cut the energy. Over the window the highest hour of residual load was a median 8% below the highest hour of demand, against a median 27% energy share. The reduction ranged from 1% in Switzerland to 42% in Latvia. In the single hour of highest demand, wind and solar supplied a median 21% of demand, so plants and imports that can be called on are still needed for the hours that set the peak, even where wind and solar supply a large share of the energy.

The residual peak moves to the evening. On the typical day, residual load peaked between 17:00 and 22:00 local time in 32 of 37 zones, and in 9 zones it peaked later than demand itself does, for example Italy South, Lithuania, Greece and 6 more. That fits solar output falling away while evening demand is still high, the effect the load shapes pages call the duck curve; in windy zones the peak can fall at any hour.

A few weeks are not the whole year. In the 12 months to October 2026 the median zone's lowest month had wind and solar at 14% of demand and its highest month at 40%. 24 of 35 zones with a complete calendar year had a higher share in the 7 October to 5 November 2026 window than in that year as a whole. On the median zone, wind and solar covered at least half of demand on 6% of days.

Wind and Solar Share of Demand, All 37 Zones

Highest share first, hourly data 7 October to 5 November 2026

The 10 European bidding zones with the highest wind and solar output as a percentage of demand, 7 October to 5 November 2026
Sweden North-Central (SE2)	180%
Sweden North (SE1)	95%
Italy South	87%
Denmark West (DK1)	77%
Italy Sicily	58%
Lithuania	56%
Italy Calabria	55%
Italy Sardinia	54%
Greece	52%
Germany and Luxembourg	50%

Bars show the top 10 of 37; the table below has every zone. A share above 100% means wind and solar produced more than the zone consumed in the window.

For each European bidding zone with reported wind and solar: average demand, wind and solar as a share of demand, average residual load, lowest and highest hourly residual load, share of hours in which wind and solar covered half of demand and all of it, the hour of day at which typical residual load and demand peak, and the hours used
#	Zone	Average demand	Wind and solar share	Average residual load	Lowest hour	Highest hour	Hours at least half covered	Hours fully covered	Residual peaks at	Demand peaks at	Hours used
1	Sweden North-Central (SE2)	1,607 MW	180%	-1,278 MW	-4,556 MW	1,589 MW	92%	77%	14:00	15:00	686
2	Sweden North (SE1)	1,217 MW	95%	63 MW	-1,426 MW	1,508 MW	73%	46%	14:00	19:00	686
3	Italy South	2,231 MW	87%	279 MW	-2,203 MW	2,659 MW	74%	37%	20:00	19:00	686
4	Denmark West (DK1)	2,844 MW	77%	641 MW	-2,108 MW	2,906 MW	70%	28%	07:00	13:00	611
5	Italy Sicily	1,703 MW	58%	715 MW	-1,397 MW	2,259 MW	49%	19%	19:00	19:00	686
6	Lithuania	1,489 MW	56%	657 MW	-840 MW	1,750 MW	50%	14%	18:00	09:00	686
7	Italy Calabria	622 MW	55%	283 MW	-392 MW	844 MW	52%	12%	19:00	19:00	686
8	Italy Sardinia	782 MW	54%	361 MW	-847 MW	1,079 MW	46%	19%	19:00	19:00	676
9	Greece	5,214 MW	52%	2,505 MW	-2,994 MW	5,937 MW	41%	16%	20:00	13:00	686
10	Germany and Luxembourg	54,996 MW	50%	27,616 MW	-9,272 MW	60,686 MW	46%	7%	18:00	11:00	683
11	Spain	25,562 MW	48%	13,389 MW	-1,384 MW	30,595 MW	43%	2%	20:00	20:00	683
12	Denmark East (DK2)	1,779 MW	47%	950 MW	23 MW	2,027 MW	47%	0%	18:00	12:00	611
13	Finland	9,845 MW	40%	5,885 MW	2,204 MW	9,132 MW	33%	0%	14:00	19:00	688
14	Croatia	1,977 MW	32%	1,344 MW	309 MW	2,479 MW	17%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
15	Sweden South (SE4)	2,327 MW	31%	1,597 MW	164 MW	2,936 MW	20%	0%	17:00	17:00	686
16	Portugal	5,909 MW	31%	4,078 MW	-446 MW	7,802 MW	22%	1%	19:00	19:00	686
17	Netherlands	10,328 MW	31%	7,141 MW	754 MW	13,395 MW	16%	0%	18:00	18:00	686
18	Romania	5,987 MW	30%	4,201 MW	49 MW	7,045 MW	10%	0%	19:00	19:00	682
19	Italy Centre-South	5,097 MW	27%	3,717 MW	114 MW	6,825 MW	17%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
20	Poland	18,943 MW	24%	14,313 MW	5,338 MW	22,466 MW	9%	0%	18:00	18:00	686
21	Bulgaria	4,205 MW	24%	3,206 MW	377 MW	4,609 MW	12%	0%	18:00	19:00	677
22	Austria	6,612 MW	23%	5,061 MW	875 MW	8,504 MW	9%	0%	18:00	08:00	686
23	Cyprus	580 MW	23%	445 MW	105 MW	718 MW	17%	0%	19:00	19:00	675
24	France	47,853 MW	23%	37,037 MW	18,339 MW	58,151 MW	2%	0%	19:00	19:00	687
25	Latvia	883 MW	22%	687 MW	-26 MW	1,226 MW	7%	0%	18:00	11:00	687
26	Estonia	902 MW	21%	712 MW	-510 MW	1,157 MW	2%	1%	18:00	20:00	688
27	Sweden South-Central (SE3)	9,483 MW	17%	7,869 MW	4,372 MW	10,851 MW	0%	0%	17:00	17:00	686
28	Hungary	4,949 MW	15%	4,216 MW	-57 MW	6,420 MW	12%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
29	North Macedonia	618 MW	13%	538 MW	-86 MW	964 MW	4%	1%	22:00	22:00	648
30	Italy Centre-North	2,612 MW	10%	2,350 MW	730 MW	3,557 MW	1%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
31	Slovenia	1,543 MW	9%	1,406 MW	572 MW	2,304 MW	0%	0%	19:00	12:00	687
32	Czechia	7,253 MW	7%	6,762 MW	4,915 MW	9,010 MW	0%	0%	19:00	12:00	687
33	Italy North	17,632 MW	6%	16,493 MW	6,476 MW	23,790 MW	0%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
34	Switzerland	7,194 MW	6%	6,798 MW	3,318 MW	9,316 MW	0%	0%	19:00	19:00	686
35	Norway South-East (NO1)	4,001 MW	4%	3,822 MW	2,659 MW	5,131 MW	0%	0%	18:00	18:00	684
36	Bosnia and Herzegovina	961 MW	4%	926 MW	-56 MW	1,814 MW	1%	0%	18:00	18:00	685
37	Slovakia	2,977 MW	2%	2,917 MW	2,127 MW	3,674 MW	0%	0%	19:00	19:00	685

Residual load is demand minus wind minus solar in each hour; the average is over the hours used, shown in the last column. Lowest and highest hour are single hours in the window: a negative lowest hour means wind and solar together exceeded demand. Hours at least half covered counts hours in which wind plus solar was at least half of demand; hours fully covered counts hours in which residual load was zero or below. Peak hours are the clock hour with the highest average value on a typical day, in local time. Percentages are of the hours used.

Source: ENTSO-E Transparency Platform (transparency.entsoe.eu), CC BY 4.0. Aggregated and converted by World Power Monitor; ENTSO-E does not endorse this site. (ENTSO-E Terms of Use plus CC BY 4.0 for listed data items) Data as of 2026-11-05. Residual load is computed by World Power Monitor from ENTSO-E hourly actual load and actual generation by type. Each zone uses its own hours.

How Often Wind and Solar Covered All of Demand

Share of hours, 7 October to 5 November 2026

The 10 European bidding zones in which wind and solar covered all of demand in the highest share of hours, 7 October to 5 November 2026
Sweden North-Central (SE2)	77%
Sweden North (SE1)	46%
Italy South	37%
Denmark West (DK1)	28%
Italy Sardinia	19%
Italy Sicily	19%
Greece	16%
Lithuania	14%
Italy Calabria	12%
Germany and Luxembourg	7%

A full-coverage hour means wind plus solar output was at least equal to demand in that zone. It says nothing about whether the grid could run on them alone: inertia, voltage support and flexibility are not in this data. 17 zones had at least one such hour; the rest are not shown.

The Typical Day in the 4 Largest Zones

Local time, mean MW by hour, 7 October to 5 November 2026

Germany and Luxembourg

Average demand and residual load in Germany and Luxembourg by local clock hour, 7 October to 5 November 2026. Residual load was lowest at 13:00 (19,547 MW) and highest at 18:00 (38,329 MW); demand peaked at 11:00 (62,934 MW).

Germany and Luxembourg: mean MW by local hour, 683 hours to 2026-11-05

Germany and Luxembourg average demand and residual load by local hour
Local hour (Europe/Berlin)	Demand	Residual load (demand minus wind and solar)
00:00	46,260 MW	23,345 MW
01:00	44,733 MW	22,618 MW
02:00	44,152 MW	21,608 MW
03:00	44,638 MW	22,999 MW
04:00	45,566 MW	24,252 MW
05:00	48,051 MW	26,854 MW
06:00	53,212 MW	31,455 MW
07:00	56,949 MW	34,729 MW
08:00	59,303 MW	34,050 MW
09:00	60,498 MW	29,361 MW
10:00	61,962 MW	25,004 MW
11:00	62,934 MW	21,873 MW
12:00	62,664 MW	19,985 MW
13:00	61,103 MW	19,547 MW
14:00	59,283 MW	20,784 MW
15:00	58,321 MW	24,904 MW
16:00	58,446 MW	30,869 MW
17:00	59,833 MW	36,399 MW
18:00	60,798 MW	38,329 MW
19:00	59,927 MW	36,592 MW
20:00	57,329 MW	33,244 MW
21:00	54,611 MW	30,558 MW
22:00	51,876 MW	28,442 MW
23:00	48,827 MW	25,749 MW

France

Average demand and residual load in France by local clock hour, 7 October to 5 November 2026. Residual load was lowest at 04:00 (31,723 MW) and highest at 19:00 (45,421 MW); demand peaked at 19:00 (53,622 MW).

France: mean MW by local hour, 687 hours to 2026-11-05

France average demand and residual load by local hour
Local hour (Europe/Paris)	Demand	Residual load (demand minus wind and solar)
00:00	45,829 MW	38,046 MW
01:00	43,971 MW	36,171 MW
02:00	41,732 MW	33,674 MW
03:00	39,707 MW	32,048 MW
04:00	39,291 MW	31,723 MW
05:00	40,848 MW	33,290 MW
06:00	44,384 MW	36,775 MW
07:00	47,866 MW	39,842 MW
08:00	50,157 MW	41,201 MW
09:00	51,208 MW	39,892 MW
10:00	51,625 MW	37,337 MW
11:00	52,048 MW	35,146 MW
12:00	52,614 MW	34,012 MW
13:00	51,125 MW	32,157 MW
14:00	50,959 MW	32,772 MW
15:00	49,378 MW	32,894 MW
16:00	47,983 MW	34,378 MW
17:00	48,398 MW	37,759 MW
18:00	51,566 MW	42,877 MW
19:00	53,622 MW	45,421 MW
20:00	50,892 MW	42,640 MW
21:00	48,059 MW	39,864 MW
22:00	48,149 MW	40,070 MW
23:00	47,726 MW	39,828 MW

Spain

Average demand and residual load in Spain by local clock hour, 7 October to 5 November 2026. Residual load was lowest at 14:00 (3,025 MW) and highest at 20:00 (23,424 MW); demand peaked at 20:00 (30,134 MW).

Spain: mean MW by local hour, 683 hours to 2026-11-05

Spain average demand and residual load by local hour
Local hour (Europe/Madrid)	Demand	Residual load (demand minus wind and solar)
00:00	22,998 MW	16,426 MW
01:00	21,869 MW	15,369 MW
02:00	21,054 MW	14,805 MW
03:00	20,683 MW	14,596 MW
04:00	20,582 MW	14,661 MW
05:00	21,011 MW	15,248 MW
06:00	23,058 MW	17,478 MW
07:00	25,816 MW	20,378 MW
08:00	27,225 MW	19,756 MW
09:00	27,618 MW	12,834 MW
10:00	27,452 MW	6,337 MW
11:00	26,928 MW	3,905 MW
12:00	26,735 MW	3,235 MW
13:00	26,961 MW	3,363 MW
14:00	26,713 MW	3,025 MW
15:00	26,184 MW	3,193 MW
16:00	26,326 MW	5,005 MW
17:00	26,976 MW	9,749 MW
18:00	28,018 MW	16,700 MW
19:00	29,158 MW	22,198 MW
20:00	30,134 MW	23,424 MW
21:00	29,346 MW	22,543 MW
22:00	26,824 MW	19,960 MW
23:00	24,580 MW	17,815 MW

Poland

Average demand and residual load in Poland by local clock hour, 7 October to 5 November 2026. Residual load was lowest at 11:00 (11,747 MW) and highest at 18:00 (18,298 MW); demand peaked at 18:00 (21,359 MW).

Poland: mean MW by local hour, 686 hours to 2026-11-05

Poland average demand and residual load by local hour
Local hour (Europe/Warsaw)	Demand	Residual load (demand minus wind and solar)
00:00	15,917 MW	12,665 MW
01:00	15,341 MW	12,158 MW
02:00	15,031 MW	11,830 MW
03:00	15,088 MW	12,006 MW
04:00	15,428 MW	12,358 MW
05:00	16,346 MW	13,300 MW
06:00	18,468 MW	15,277 MW
07:00	19,760 MW	15,969 MW
08:00	20,506 MW	15,253 MW
09:00	20,580 MW	13,859 MW
10:00	20,385 MW	12,465 MW
11:00	20,527 MW	11,747 MW
12:00	20,642 MW	11,749 MW
13:00	20,624 MW	12,395 MW
14:00	20,469 MW	13,403 MW
15:00	20,613 MW	15,239 MW
16:00	20,850 MW	17,076 MW
17:00	21,019 MW	18,057 MW
18:00	21,359 MW	18,298 MW
19:00	21,343 MW	17,999 MW
20:00	20,731 MW	17,293 MW
21:00	19,292 MW	15,812 MW
22:00	17,985 MW	14,547 MW
23:00	16,746 MW	13,405 MW

The largest zones are ranked by average demand over the hours used. Charts mix weekdays and weekends, and one stretch of weeks: a windy or sunny week moves them. The load shapes pages show the same net load for every grid, hour by hour.

The Seasons: Wind and Solar Share by Month

Daily totals, Nov 2025 to Oct 2026

Wind and solar output as a percentage of demand by calendar month for the 3 largest bidding zones, from daily ENTSO-E totals
Zone	Nov 2025	Dec 2025	Jan 2026	Feb 2026	Mar 2026	Apr 2026	May 2026	Jun 2026	Jul 2026	Aug 2026	Sep 2026	Oct 2026
Germany and Luxembourg	36%	41%	39%	42%	46%	53%	52%	54%	58%	57%	54%	49%
Spain	51%	34%	45%	44%	48%	51%	52%	53%	50%	52%	48%	45%
Poland	16%	16%	18%	18%	27%	34%	34%	33%	n/a	35%	34%	28%

Monthly wind and solar energy divided by demand energy, from daily totals. A month is shown only when at most 3 of its days are missing, so the first and last months of the series can be absent. The 7 October to 5 November 2026 window sits inside the latest month or two on the right.

For each bidding zone: wind and solar share of demand in the hourly window, in the latest complete calendar year, in its lowest and highest month, and the share of days on which wind and solar covered at least half of demand
Zone	Hourly window (7 October to 5 November 2026)	Latest complete year	Lowest month	Highest month	Days at least half covered	Days used
Sweden North-Central (SE2)	180%	107% (2025)	73% (Jan 2026)	173% (Oct 2026)	80%	400
Sweden North (SE1)	95%	63% (2025)	30% (Jan 2026)	96% (Oct 2026)	52%	400
Italy South	87%	75% (2025)	49% (Dec 2025)	118% (May 2026)	67%	370
Denmark West (DK1)	77%	79% (2024)	77% (Nov 2025)	91% (Sep 2026)	83%	332
Italy Sicily	58%	43% (2025)	36% (Dec 2025)	66% (Feb 2026)	47%	369
Lithuania	56%	47% (2025)	30% (Nov 2025)	83% (Apr 2026)	61%	396
Italy Calabria	55%	45% (2025)	29% (Aug 2026)	58% (May 2026)	28%	400
Italy Sardinia	54%	45% (2025)	28% (Dec 2025)	67% (May 2026)	36%	369
Greece	52%	44% (2025)	33% (Dec 2025)	61% (Oct 2026)	51%	396
Germany and Luxembourg	50%	44% (2025)	36% (Nov 2025)	58% (Jul 2026)	46%	399
Spain	48%	46% (2024)	34% (Dec 2025)	53% (Jun 2026)	47%	394
Denmark East (DK2)	47%	44% (2024)	35% (Nov 2025)	46% (Oct 2025)	40%	286
Finland	40%	27% (2025)	14% (Feb 2026)	41% (Oct 2026)	8%	383
Croatia	32%	20% (2025)	15% (Jan 2026)	28% (May 2026)	3%	400
Sweden South (SE4)	31%	29% (2025)	23% (Nov 2025)	41% (Jul 2026)	14%	400
Portugal	31%	37% (2025)	31% (Oct 2026)	40% (Feb 2026)	17%	400
Netherlands	31%	20% (2025)	14% (Jul 2026)	27% (Dec 2025)	1%	399
Romania	30%	16% (2025)	14% (Dec 2025)	30% (Sep 2026)	1%	384
Italy Centre-South	27%	23% (2025)	13% (Dec 2025)	36% (May 2026)	1%	369
Poland	24%	26% (2025)	16% (Dec 2025)	35% (Aug 2026)	2%	395
Bulgaria	24%	20% (2025)	11% (Jan 2026)	43% (Aug 2026)	1%	399
Austria	23%	24% (2025)	13% (Dec 2025)	40% (May 2026)	6%	399
Cyprus	23%	n/a	1% (Aug 2026)	31% (May 2026)	0%	335
Latvia	22%	12% (2025)	4% (Jan 2026)	53% (Jun 2026)	14%	398
Estonia	21%	27% (2024)	12% (Jan 2026)	48% (Jul 2026)	20%	372
Sweden South-Central (SE3)	17%	14% (2025)	9% (Feb 2026)	21% (Jul 2026)	0%	400
Hungary	15%	17% (2025)	4% (Jan 2026)	32% (May 2026)	0%	400
Italy Centre-North	10%	12% (2025)	6% (Jan 2026)	18% (May 2026)	0%	400
Slovenia	9%	2% (2022)	2% (Jan 2026)	22% (Jul 2026)	0%	398
Czechia	7%	8% (2025)	3% (Dec 2025)	16% (Jul 2026)	0%	398
Italy North	6%	8% (2025)	3% (Jan 2026)	13% (Aug 2026)	0%	400
Switzerland	6%	8% (2025)	1% (Dec 2025)	21% (Jul 2026)	0%	400
Norway South-East (NO1)	4%	3% (2025)	1% (Jan 2026)	5% (Oct 2026)	0%	395
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4%	3% (2025)	0% (Aug 2026)	4% (Apr 2026)	0%	391
Slovakia	2%	2% (2025)	0% (Dec 2025)	4% (Jul 2026)	0%	389

Latest complete year is the newest calendar year with every day reported, so it can be 2025 for one zone and 2024 for another. Days are local days from the daily series (about 400 days to 2026-11-05), and only days on which demand, wind and solar are all reported count. Zones without a daily wind and solar series are left out of these two tables.

Source: ENTSO-E Transparency Platform (transparency.entsoe.eu), CC BY 4.0. Aggregated and converted by World Power Monitor; ENTSO-E does not endorse this site. (ENTSO-E Terms of Use plus CC BY 4.0 for listed data items) Data as of 2026-11-05. Monthly, yearly and daily shares are computed by World Power Monitor from ENTSO-E daily and yearly totals.

How Residual Load Is Measured, and What Is Left Out

Residual load in an hour is demand minus wind minus solar. Demand is ENTSO-E actual total load; wind and solar are actual generation by type. Small negative wind or solar readings (stations drawing power overnight) are counted as zero.
An hour is used only when demand, wind and solar are all present, so every figure for a zone is over the same hours. A zone needs at least 336 used hours and at least 90% of its hours with demand. Hours are the zone's local clock hours, so a clock change moves the pattern with it; the repeated hour on a 25 hour day is averaged.
Residual load is a gap, not a fuel: the plants and imports that fill it are not identified here. Embedded rooftop solar that the operator does not report is missing from both generation and, partly, from load, so residual load can be overstated where that is large.
Zones that are part of a country (Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark have several) are separate market areas, so a zone's wind and solar can exceed its own demand while the country as a whole does not.
Left out: Albania (publishes no wind series that is reported); Belgium (fewer than 336 hours, or under 90% of its demand hours, have wind, solar and demand all reported); Georgia (publishes no solar series that is reported); Ireland and Northern Ireland (SEM) (publishes no hourly demand); Kosovo (publishes neither a wind nor a solar series that is reported); Montenegro (publishes no solar series that is reported); Norway Central (NO3) (publishes no solar series that is reported); Norway North (NO4) (publishes no solar series that is reported); Norway South-West (NO2) (publishes no solar series that is reported); Norway West (NO5) (publishes neither a wind nor a solar series that is reported); Serbia (publishes no solar series that is reported). A zone that publishes only one of the two is not ranked, because leaving the other out would understate its coverage.
The window is 7 October to 5 November 2026, a stretch of weeks in one part of the year. Wind and solar output change with the season, so the ranking and the peak hours would differ in another month. The seasonal tables use daily totals for the last 12 months to show how far.
Figures are as published by ENTSO-E, whose members can revise them. Only derived statistics are shown; raw hourly series are not offered for download. See methodology for time zones and units.

Residual Load: Questions and Answers

What is residual load?

Residual load is electricity demand minus the output of wind and solar plants. It is what the rest of the system has to supply in that hour: hydro, nuclear, gas, coal, biomass, batteries and pumped storage, and imports from neighbouring zones.

Which European zones had the most of their demand covered by wind and solar?

In 7 October to 5 November 2026, Sweden North-Central (SE2) had the highest coverage, with wind and solar equal to 180% of its demand. Next were Sweden North (SE1), Italy South, Denmark West (DK1) and 33 more. The list covers 37 zones with enough reported data, and it is a window of a few weeks, not a year.

Can wind and solar produce more than a zone uses?

Yes. In 17 of 37 zones there was at least one hour in the window in which wind and solar output was at or above demand, so residual load was zero or negative. The surplus is exported to neighbours, stored or curtailed; this data does not show which.

Does residual load mean gas and coal?

No. Residual load is a gap, not a fuel. In a zone with a lot of hydro or nuclear, those plants cover most of it, and imports can cover part of it. The page does not split residual load by the fuel that meets it.

Cite this page

APA 7

World Power Monitor. (2026). Residual Load in Europe: What Wind and Solar Leave to Cover. https://worldpowermonitor.com/residual-load/

Plain text

World Power Monitor. Residual Load in Europe: What Wind and Solar Leave to Cover. Data as of 2026-11-05. Data from ENTSO-E Transparency Platform. https://worldpowermonitor.com/residual-load/

BibTeX

@misc{wpm_residual_load_2026,
  title = {{Residual Load in Europe: What Wind and Solar Leave to Cover}},
  author = {{World Power Monitor}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-05. Data from ENTSO-E Transparency Platform.},
  url = {https://worldpowermonitor.com/residual-load/}
}

Permalink: https://worldpowermonitor.com/residual-load/

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