The expansion of renewable energies is being massively promoted. But what to do with the electricity? The grid operators in the north-east miss similar political efforts in grid expansion.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The network operators in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania see themselves forgotten in the accelerated expansion of renewables. “The accompanying and absolutely necessary network expansion of the power grids has not been given equal priority to date,” said the network operator Edis. The changes currently planned in the country are too strongly geared towards expanding generation capacities. A single project for the construction of overhead lines currently takes between 8 and 12 years from planning to commissioning.
From the point of view of the grid operator, the optimal solution would not only include an accelerated expansion of the electricity grid, but also the settlement of energy-intensive industries in the north-east. If the electricity were to be used locally, the grids would have to transport less electricity to southern Germany. The Schwerin-based Wemag Netz GmbH made a similar statement. There are currently 2.3 gigawatts of power from renewables in their grid: “This power corresponds to almost 6 times the maximum simultaneous power consumption by electricity consumers in the grid area”.
Even with Edis – whose network includes not only eastern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania but also large parts of Brandenburg – things are no better: 12.4 gigawatts of installed capacity from renewables are compared to 2.4 gigawatts of consumption here.
If the electricity can neither be transported away nor consumed on site, there is a risk of the distribution grids being overloaded if the wind conditions are good. According to Wemag, systems must then be curtailed. This so-called redispatch accounted for 37 gigawatt hours there in 2022 – one percent of the annual amount of energy generated. Wemag pointed out that an increase in redispatch volumes can be expected as long as grid expansion cannot keep up with the expansion of generation.
Both network operators are calling for the Federal Network Agency to revise the regulatory conditions. According to Edis, “in the future, they will have to take the aspects of climate protection much more into account”. Mentioned is the reward of innovation, use of technology, storage capacity and the establishment of bulk consumers. The previous approaches such as efficiency and cost reduction potentials have been exhausted.
