German Wind Power Hits Record, Forces Grids to Cut Off Turbines

German wind turbines produced more than 35 gigawatts of electricity for the first time, flooding the nation’s grids with so much power that some turbines had to be shut down, according to data from the nation’s four grid companies.

Wind power generation peaked at 35.9 gigawatts at 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 3, according to data from Tennet BV, 50Hertz Transmission GmbH, TransnetBW AG and Amprion GmbH. Production from onshore and offshore turbines accounted for 39 percent of the nation’s overall output on Jan. 3 when storm “Axel” carried wind speeds over 100 kilometers (62 miles) an hour across Germany, according ...