Occupations slow down expansion: Solar panels push the electricity grid to its limits

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Mountains, trees, maybe a cow. And soon solar panels? Hikers may have to quickly get used to a new sight. The federal government wants to expand renewable energy sources and also utilize the Alps. To achieve this, he started the Solar Express last year.

Generous financial support and easier approvals should bring more solar energy to Switzerland. There are currently several dozen projects in the pipeline. But whether they are actually useful depends not only on how many solar panels are installed, but also on how the electricity gets to households.

“The electricity grid must be expanded”

“The Swiss electricity grid needs to be expanded,” said Jan Schenk, media spokesperson for Swissgrid. The company operates the Swiss transmission network. But Swissgrid is lagging behind when it comes to expanding and converting the electricity grid. The expansion is planned in a paper. The “Strategic Network 2025” includes ten projects. Only two have been completed, the rest are still under construction or planned. At the same time, Swissgrid is already starting the next expansion step, the “Strategic Grid 2040”. “We urgently need to modernize the electricity grid. Two-thirds of the networks were built before 1980, when electricity needs were significantly lower,” says Schenk. The north-south axis and Valais are particularly affected. “We are lagging behind with the expansion in this area.”

The reason for the slow expansion is objections and appeals. “Many projects that are necessary for security of supply on the grid are being taken to court and are therefore being delayed,” says Schenk. An example: the extra-high-voltage line between Chamoson US and Chippis US. 36 years passed between the first idea and completion.

You feel the vulnerable electricity grid at Swissgrid. “If the grid is unstable, we need to intervene more to ensure that electricity flows regularly,” says Schenk.

Costs unclear

Swissgrid manages the high-voltage lines. They are actually highways. But there are also potholes in the municipal and neighborhood streets: the lines that lead directly to the house. More and more people also want to have solar panels on their roof. This means that electricity must drain from the house if too much is produced. Here too, the electricity grid needs to be converted.

“There will be more and more private solar systems, electric cars and heat pumps,” says Thomas Marti, head of networks at the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies (VSE). “To ensure that the electricity grid can handle all this, it needs to be further developed.”

Requests for private solar systems are already piling up at the electricity companies, SRF recently reported. “The network operators must ensure that operations are safe and that no disruptions occur,” says Marti. The electricity grid must be developed in parallel with the expansion of solar energy systems. “That requires investments.” The VSE is currently working on a study that shows how expensive the conversion of the distribution networks will be. The results are expected early this year. (brother)

Source:Blick