How the private photovoltaic boom is causing bottlenecks in the power grid

Austrian transmission system operator Austrian Power Grid (APG) was forced to interfere with local electricity supplies for 25 days in July 2023 alone. This exits the broadcast. This prevents overloads in the electricity grid. Until now, so-called retransmission procedures have been necessary for 130 days out of the year. This includes controlled interventions into the energy grid using thermal and hydraulic power plants.

Interventions in power supply are necessary because the electricity grid is very weak. Above all, the expansion of renewable energy generation now exceeds the capacity of electricity infrastructure, warned APG Technical Director Gerhard Christiner, once again calling for greater speed in expanding the electricity grid. Regional electricity surpluses fed back into the transmission grid in an uncontrolled manner would make forecasts more difficult and would have to be removed from the system at great cost.

€20 million costs in July alone

According to APG, these interventions also cause high costs. A total of €19.7 million was incurred in July alone. Ultimately, electricity customers will have to pay these costs. “A robust electricity grid with sufficient capacity would significantly reduce the need for redistribution and reduce costs,” said Thomas Karal, APG’s CFO.

In terms of balance, 97 percent of electricity consumption in July was covered by renewable energies. Of the total 3,867 GWh of renewable electricity produced in Austria, the largest share, 3,052 GWh, came from hydropower.