Storms in Austria good for wind energy, but not enough
February releases mostly very stormy in Austria. That causes around 50 percent more more wind power could be produced than last year this month as well 5 percent more than in January of this year, which was already very windy. Loud Austrian power grid (APG) could 995 gigawatt hours (GWh) are measured.
However, despite this strong increase, the electricity demand in Austria cannot be covered by wind energy. The power requirement in February was 5380 GWh. That’s about the same as in previous years. “The good power generation from wind power is the reason why around 60 percent of domestic electricity requirements, which corresponds to around 3,170 GWhcould be covered in the long term,” explained Gerhard Christiner, CTO at APG.
Electricity imports required in winter
But in the winter months you will not be able to avoid electricity import. “The difference between that share of electricity demand coverage from sustainable energy and actual consumption must be compensated for by means of conventional electricity generation and purchased electricity,” says Thomas Karall, CFO of APG. In February, according to the APG, total 977 GWh imported electricity.
Incidentally, the wind strongholds were in the east. This also challenges the existing networks when the surpluses are distributed. The surplus was distributed throughout Austria by Lower Austria and Burgenland. However, the power infrastructure often reaches its limits and external interventions are necessary for load control (so-called redispatching). These were on until the end of February this year 47 days necessary. However, this results in costs that electricity customers have to compensate for. By the end of February, these already believe themselves 7 million Euro.
Grid expansion urgently needed
APG therefore emphasizes that the power infrastructure needs to be expanded and converted quickly. “This requires immediate overall system planning and corresponding capacities in the areas of networks, storage, production, reserves and digital platform technologies to use the flexibilities of all actors in the system. All of this must be done immediately,” says Christiner.