Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – For the fourth time this year, people in Baden-Württemberg are called on to save electricity this Friday evening. In the period from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., power consumption should be reduced if possible, according to the network operator TransnetBW in Stuttgart via the “StromGedacht” app. During this period, for example, laptops should only be used with batteries, no electric cars should be charged or no washing machines should be used. Ideally, this should be done before 2 p.m., the company advised. Power cuts are not to be feared.
The background to the appeal is that there is too much wind energy in the north-east. Because the networks to the south are not sufficiently developed, TransnetBW will probably have to obtain more than 1,000 megawatts from abroad alone, as a spokeswoman said. Reserve power plants can also be used as a replacement. Such measures are called redispatch. The costs for this are passed on to consumers, which is why saving electricity can be worthwhile.
The “StromGedacht” app works with a kind of traffic light system: Green stands for normal operation. Yellow and orange come into play when TransnetBW has to take more measures than usual to stabilize the power grid – and citizens can contribute to this. In the case of yellow, you should bring the power consumption forward, and reduce it in the case of orange. Red is now intended for tense situations in which forecasts on the electricity market predict too little generation for demand in Baden-Württemberg, i.e. there is a risk of a power shortage.
According to TransnetBW, around 170,000 people recently used the app. It is still unclear how much the power-saving calls will bring about this way.
