Curtailment — Europe
Sometimes a solar or wind farm could produce but is told to stop: the grid is saturated, or there is too much power at the same moment. That electricity is lost — this is curtailment. This page measures, for each European country, how much was lost this way in 2024, why, and who gets compensated.
Last updated: June 2026 · data snapshot 2024
What is curtailment?
Curtailment is the deliberate reduction of a plant's output — mostly solar or wind — decided by the grid operator (TSO) or forced by the market. The energy is available but not fed into the grid: it is lost.
Two main causes: (1) grid congestion — lines cannot carry all the output of an area to demand centres (Scottish wind, southern Spain/Italy solar); (2) oversupply — generation exceeds demand, often at solar midday, linked to negative prices.
Why it matters: curtailment directly cuts a project's saleable output and therefore its revenue. Even 2-3% compounds over a 25-year life, so it is now a key factor in bankability and due diligence.
⚠ Reading note: the figures below mostly measure curtailed energy (GWh/TWh), all technologies combined (solar + wind). Solar alone is isolated only for Germany and France. See "Known limitations".
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1. Observed data — curtailment by country (2024)
Observed dataRenewable energy curtailed in 2024, in GWh / TWh, from national grid operators and analysts. Solar is rarely isolated — the "of which solar" column is filled only where the source separates it.
⚠ Scopes are heterogeneous: some figures cover all renewables (solar + wind), others a single technology; TSO definitions differ. Do not compare rows directly.
| Country | Curtailed RES 2024 | Of which solar | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | ~8.3 TWh | negligible | Wind (98% Scottish); cost ~£393m | NESO / FTI |
| Germany | ~9.3 TWh | 1.39 TWh (+97%) | ≈ 3.5% of RES output; €554m compensation | Bundesnetzagentur via Strategic Energy |
| Spain | ~1.7 TWh | n/a | ~2% of RES (technical restrictions); phase I uncompensated | REE / S&P Global |
| France | 1.7 TWh | 0.7 TWh | 0.9 TWh wind + 0.7 solar; vs 0.6 TWh in 2023 | RTE 2024 |
| Italy | ~0.34 TWh | n/a | North/South congestion; forecast ×6 by 2030 | Aurora Energy Research |
Germany: ~9.3 TWh = solar (1.39) + offshore wind (4.56) + onshore (3.38). UK: curtailment is almost entirely wind (little northern solar). "n/a" = not separated by the source.
2. Context — European framing & costs
ContextOrder of magnitude at European scale. Broad scope (grid, redispatch included) — not directly comparable to the country rows above.
| Indicator | 2024 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Electricity (mainly RES) curtailed in Europe | ~72 TWh | Aurora via Clean Energy Wire |
| Total cost (curtailment + compensation) | ~€8.9bn | Aurora via Clean Energy Wire |
| Curtailed volume equivalent | ≈ Austria's annual consumption | Aurora via Clean Energy Wire |
Aurora's "72 TWh" uses a broad scope (all grid causes). Narrower market-only counts give lower totals — see "Known limitations".
3. Context — compensation rules
ContextWhether curtailed energy is paid for depends on the country. EU principle (Electricity Regulation / ACER): curtailment must be a last resort, after redispatch and countertrading; any compensation cap is an exception to be justified.
| Country | Generator compensated? | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Yes | Redispatch 2.0 / Einspeisemanagement — €554m paid in 2024 |
| United Kingdom | Yes | Constraint payments (balancing mechanism) — ~£393m to wind in 2024 |
| Spain | Partial | Phase I technical restrictions (pre-dispatch) not compensated; real-time per market rules |
| France | Yes | RTE compensates under the applicable regulatory scheme |
Methodology & sources
Curtailment = available renewable energy not fed into the grid, by grid or market decision, measured in GWh/TWh over 2024. Country figures come from national grid operators (often self-reported); solar is rarely isolated, so figures usually cover all renewables. Scopes differ (grid redispatch vs market-only), so country totals are not strictly additive.
Sources: Bundesnetzagentur (Germany) · RTE (France) · Red Eléctrica / S&P (Spain) · NESO / FTI (UK) · Aurora Energy Research / CEW (EU, Italy) · ACER (rules).
Known limitations: (1) Partial, heterogeneous data — each TSO has its own definition and scope (grid vs market, redispatch in or out), so country totals are not strictly comparable. (2) Solar is rarely isolated — only Germany and France publish a separate solar figure. (3) Handle the EU figure with care: Aurora's "72 TWh" uses a broad scope; narrower market-only counts are around 10 TWh — the gap is definitional. (4) "Value of curtailed energy" and "compensation actually paid" are different things across sources. (5) Partial country coverage — the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Portugal are not quantified here for lack of homogeneous public 2024 data. Values do not constitute investment advice.