Power bottlenecks are threatening not only because of the energy crisis as a result of the war. Another problem is the expansion of the grids, which is progressing more slowly than the expansion of renewable energies. This is a political issue, especially in the south-west, which is strong in industry but lacks wind.
Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) – For the third time this year, people in Baden-Württemberg were encouraged to save electricity on Friday. The transmission system operator TransnetBW had called for no electrical devices such as washing machines to be used between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m., laptops only with batteries. Such calls have so far not had any significant effects on electricity consumption, as the Ministry of the Environment said in response to an application by the FDP parliamentary group. The Free Democrats are therefore demanding, instead of austerity appeals, that the state government do more to expand the power grid.
It stagnates under green and black, which forces network operators to take comprehensive measures in the event of imminent bottlenecks, said the energy policy spokesman for the parliamentary group, Frank Bonath, of the German Press Agency in Stuttgart. While the scope of such measures under the three green-led cabinets has increased many times over, “subsidies intended for improving the electricity infrastructure seep away unused in the administration”.
TransnetBW provided 2787 gigawatt hours in 2021 for so-called redispatch – an intervention in the electricity market to avoid bottlenecks – according to the letter from Minister Thekla Walker (Greens). That is an increase of more than 400 gigawatt hours or almost a fifth compared to the previous year. To put this in context: According to the State Statistical Office, a total of 65,800 gigawatt hours of electricity were consumed in Baden-Württemberg in 2020.
According to the Federal Network Agency, the number of interventions for congestion management increased last year for several reasons, according to the ministry’s response. “On the one hand, the expansion of renewable energy systems, especially wind turbines in northern Germany, is progressing steadily, while the grid expansion is not progressing to the same extent.” In addition, the supply situation in France, characterized by many non-operational nuclear power plants, has increased the need for redispatching.
A so-called redispatch is necessary, for example, if too much wind power is generated in northern Germany. Because the lines aren’t big enough for onward transport south, there’s a kind of backlog on the overloaded lines — and the power flows out through other routes. If existing systems cannot feed in enough electricity to stabilize the grid, reserve power plants are started up or electricity is imported from abroad. According to the information, the nationwide costs for such network and system security measures amounted to more than 2.2 billion euros by 2021. In the previous ten years they were significantly lower.
“The coordinated processes for secure network operation work, and there is no threat to the security and stability of the power supply in Baden-Württemberg,” says Walker. This also applies after the shutdown of the last nuclear power plant in the southwest in Neckarwestheim (Heilbronn district) in mid-April.
TransnetBW had recently publicly called on consumers to save electricity several times. In order to reach people directly, there is a separate app called “StromGedacht”, which provides information about possible bottlenecks and cost-cutting measures. “As far as the effects are concerned, we are still at the beginning,” said a spokeswoman on Friday. Around 170,000 people are now using the app, and the number is increasing. A participation button that is active during the savings phase was clicked almost 5,000 times in the morning. This is how the group gets some feedback on its call for savings. Participation can be worthwhile, because the costs of buying additional electricity are passed on to the consumers.
The FDP deputy Bonath complained that green-black left the network operators to raise awareness and the consumers to ensure the stability of the electricity network. Instead, the state government should work for better planning of the network and power plant capacities, the continued use of nuclear energy and the faster construction of gas-fired power plants suitable for hydrogen in the south-west. Alluding to the app, he added: “The motto of the hour must be safety instead of raising awareness, electricity made instead of electricity thought.” Especially if the warnings had had no impact on power consumption.
However, only about a quarter of German electricity consumption is accounted for by private households. There are no comparable calls for savings in industry. Bonath didn’t think much of that either: “More than any other sector, industry saved energy in 2022 and thus made a significant contribution to getting Germany and Baden-Württemberg through the winter safely,” he explained. Political recognition has so far failed to materialize. “Since industrial customers in Germany are faced with electricity costs that are unprecedented in Europe, appeals to save energy would further reduce Germany’s attractiveness as a location and would only unnecessarily accelerate the relocation of power-intensive processes abroad.” Instead of appeals, what is needed above all is price-stable planning and investment security.
