Even without new backup power plants there will be no power shortages in winter

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If a minimum filling level of Switzerland’s reservoirs is guaranteed, the fossil reserve power plants would become obsolete, Jürg Rohrer, professor of renewable energy at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), said in a university statement on Wednesday. “In this respect, it would be absolutely incomprehensible if Switzerland bought more fossil power plants.” This conclusion is based on an analysis of several studies on electricity security in Switzerland.

The federal government plans to switch on fossil reserve power plants several weeks before a foreseeable power shortage. These mainly serve to protect the storage plants, so that the reservoirs have a higher filling level.

According to the ZHAW analysis, the same effect could be achieved with a faster expansion of renewables, with an energy savings target of at least five percent in winter, or with increased power imports. It is crucial that a hydropower reserve in the reservoirs is legally required and monitored, so that the extra electricity production in winter is not simply sold on the market.

Partly safer without fossil power plants

According to the ZHAW analysis, measures such as saving electricity or expanding renewable electricity sources would be even safer, especially in the event of a power shortage due to the failure of nuclear power plants. To protect the reservoirs, the back-up gas-fired power plants would need to come on stream weeks before the nuclear power plants fail.

In the event of a sudden failure of nuclear power plants, the fossil plants could hardly avoid a power shortage – their deployment would come too late, the researchers wrote in the analysis. On the other hand, conservation measures or an expansion of renewable electricity production in winter would certainly relieve the reservoirs, as they do not have to be activated when there are imminent supply shortages.

(SDA)

Source:Blick