Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe

The June–July 2025 heatwave in Europe increased electricity demand by up to 14% and caused average daily power prices to double or triple in several countries. While record solar generation of 45 TWh in June 2025 helped maintain daytime stability, the heatwave triggered thermal power plant outages, particularly affecting France's nuclear fleet. The report argues for the deployment of battery storage, interconnection, and demand flexibility to mitigate future extreme weather risks.

• The 2025 heatwave led to significant increases in electricity demand and prices. Demand grew by up to 14% in Spain, 9% in France, and 6% in Germany when comparing June 24 to July 1. Consequently, average daily power prices rose by 175% in Germany, 108% in France, 106% in Poland, and 15% in Spain, with peak evening prices on July 1 exceeding 400 €/MWh in Germany and 470 €/MWh in Poland.
• High temperatures caused operational disruptions at thermal power plants. In France, the heatwave may have impacted up to 15% of nuclear capacity, with 7 GW of offline capacity marked as "Forced" on July 1–2 and other reductions at plants like Golfech 1 and Bugey 2 linked to temperature conditions. Italy also experienced power outages on July 1 likely caused by the overheating of cables.
• Record-breaking solar production mitigated some of the heatwave's stress. June 2025 saw the highest EU solar electricity production on record at 45 TWh, a 22% increase over June 2024. In Germany, solar delivered up to 50 GW of power during peak days, accounting for 33–39% of the country's electricity.
• To improve future grid resilience, the report recommends clean flexibility solutions and technical innovations. These include battery storage to manage price spreads exceeding 400 €/MWh, increased interconnection, and the use of grid-forming inverters to restart grids after blackouts, as explored by the UK's NESO and Belgium's Elia. Additionally, the Polish TSO (PSE) proposed an anti-blackout package on July 2 involving real-time data from distributed energy sources and dynamic tariffs.

APA

Czyzak, D. P. (2025). Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Ember-Report-Heat-and-Power-Impacts-of-the-2025-heatwave-in-Europe.pdf

Chicago

Czyzak, Dr Pawel. Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Ember-Report-Heat-and-Power-Impacts-of-the-2025-heatwave-in-Europe.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Czyzak |first1=Dr Pawel |title=Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe |publisher=Ember |date=4 July 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Ember-Report-Heat-and-Power-Impacts-of-the-2025-heatwave-in-Europe.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{czyzak2025heat, author = {Czyzak, Dr Pawel}, title = {{Heat and power: Impacts of the 2025 heatwave in Europe}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/07/Ember-Report-Heat-and-Power-Impacts-of-the-2025-heatwave-in-Europe.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }