In 2011 the Czech electricity grid experienced frequent near-emergency situations where security of the grid was jeopardised, transmission system operator (TSO) CEPS announced in a statement on Tuesday. The TSO called for reinforcement measures across the region ” as quickly as possible”.
CEPS reported a sharp increase of unscheduled north-south power flows in the past year, compared with previous years. “Whilst in past years such non-standard situations occurred relatively rarely and for a rather short term, their rate sharply increased last year,” the TSO warned in a statement.
The most critical situation occurred between 25 November and 16 December, when the system had to cope with 3.5GW-worth of electricity flows routed through the Czech Republic – more than three times above the average 1GW load.
The main reason for the overload was excessive power output from wind farms in northern Germany, according to the statement.
Other factors that triggered near-emergencies in the Czech grid were the increase of installed photovoltaic capacity and the closure of eight nuclear power plants in Germany; intensive electricity trading on the spot market; and increased electricity exports to the Balkans due to the long-lasting dry spell.
Call for remedial measures
CEPS has implemented several remedial measures and introduced new tools for identifying and predicting critical measures, but regional grid operators have been struggling to contain wind generation for some time.
In December, the German Energy Agency warned of grid instability in using neighbouring countries’ grids to balance the excess generation. The Czech government also called for coordinated grid developments across the region last April .
Prices not affected by grid tightness
However, the tightness on the grid was not reflected in price moves, according to ICIS Heren data. The Day-ahead Baseload spread between the Czech Republic and Germany between 25 November and 16 December did not seem to be impacted.
The average Czech discount to the German equivalent over the period was minus
