ADMIE and DEDDIE are on alert for the stability of the electrical system on the critical days of the three-day period. This is because the drop in electricity demand during the Easter period, combined with the high production of photovoltaic systems and wind farms, due to weather, are testing its endurance.
In these conditions of low energy consumption, the most critical days, according to the technical staff of ADMIE, are today and the day before Easter as the weather conditions favor large production of RES (Renewable Energy Sources) projects.
The cuts in RES
Tomorrow, Holy Saturday, the weather is expected to be cloudy, so the production of photovoltaics will be limited, which when it is sunny are the main factor in destabilizing the electrical system, mainly because DEDDIE cannot cut “green” electricity generation, except for a fifth of the approximately 7.7 GW (gigawatts) connected to its network.
The “scissors” in the amounts of electricity injected into the electrical system, from the multitude of RES units operating today, are the basic “tool” for maintaining its stability by the Operators of the electricity transmission system and the electricity distribution network (ADMIE and DEDDIE ) with the biggest burden falling on the large projects connected to the ADMIE system.
All cuts made are a technical necessity in order to avoid blackouts, due to loss of system stability, during periods
that the surplus RES production cannot be consumed or exported in its entirety.
On the two previous Sundays, April 14 and 28, the problem was intense. Especially on the weekend of April 27-28, the cuts reached about 4 GW, of which 1.5 GW was cut by DEDDIE and 2.5 GW by ADMIE. More generally, ADMIE has calculated that on the days when electricity consumption drops to the brink and RES production is increased, due to sunshine and wind, then approximately 2.5 to 3 GW are left over. It is their production that must be cut.
Power outlets saved the …game
In 2023 the cuts reached 228 GWh (gigawatt hours) while in the first four months of 2024 alone _ when weather conditions were mild and demand low _ more than 300 GWh of production has been rejected. Especially in April, for 17 days energy production exceeded demand. However, as an official of ADMIE reports, the situation, last month when the problem was severe, was saved by the demand of the neighboring countries. During 83% of the days when Greece had an overproduction of “green” energy, exports saved the …game. “During the difficult times we exported around 200 GWh and imported 40 GWh”, the same source points out.
However, the extent to which the excess RES production in our country, at the times it occurs, can be exported or not is affected by various factors as similar conditions of excess production occur in most European countries and many times at the same times as Greece. Thus, whether or not we can export when there is excess energy in our country is determined by market and price conditions.
The role of storage and interfaces
In fact, in the next two years the problem is expected to intensify as the penetration of RES in the energy mix will increase _ 13 GW of RES projects are already operating and another 15 GW are in the queue with offers to connect to the grid. From 2026, when energy storage units will also begin to enter the system (mainly the large Pumped Storage project in Amfilochia, which will be able to function as a base unit as well), the problem will begin to disappear.
As a RES market player underlines, necessary conditions to keep cuts at sustainable levels for RES investments and to secure the further development of “green” energy production projects are storage integration, international interconnections and demand growth, alongside establishing a fair framework for cuts.
“Tackling the problem has three distinct phases, a short-term, a medium-term and a long-term one. The short-term involves the development of energy storage units, mainly fast-growing batteries, which will alleviate the problem. In the medium term, the new international connections, which need time to be built, must be completed so that they can be used for exports when market prices allow it,” he notes. And he adds: “In the long term we need to take care to increase the demand for electricity by converting thermal uses into electrical ones, for example with heat pumps, electrification or electrification of various industrial processes, etc. The key is for all three phases to proceed, with such a timing, so so that the situation does not escape. But we still haven’t progressed even with the first one”, he points out.
In case the situation does not change in terms of demand, in 2030 when RES will reach 30 GW, ADMIE estimates that the cuts will reach 14% per year, i.e. about 10 TWh per year.
Zero values
However, corresponding problems are faced by all the developed countries of the world that are developing RES projects at a fast pace in the context of the energy transition to curb climate change.
A collateral loss of the overproduction of RES, combined with the low demand, are the zero prices. In fact, in the market of the next day of the Hellenic Energy Exchange they are constantly increasing. According to ENTSO-E data, between January and April, Greece showed zero or almost zero values for 33 hours, while a negative value was also recorded in April.
That is why, as market executives typically say, “attention to the gap” between the green transition and energy security is required. In other words, “mind the gap”…
Source: OT
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