There is a growing trend for the installation of electric microgenerators – if last year 461 microgenerators were installed throughout the year, then at the beginning of September this year 663 microgenerators were installed, said Sandis Jansons, Chairman of the Board of JSC Sadales tīkls.
He noted that this segment is developing rapidly, and “Distribution Network” understands that it will be both a challenge for the company as a system and a tariff challenge for the future.
Jansons pointed out that the most popular type of microgeneration in Latvia is solar panels, which make up 99.99% of the approximately 1,700 microgenerators.
“Microgeneration is for self-consumption. Both the microgeneration business model and common sense suggest: whatever the tariffs, whatever the price of electricity, we will hit the target with self-consumption. If we are going to pass the energy on to the grid, then the question immediately arises both in terms of price and network capacity, “said Jansons.
The head of the distribution network said that currently the microgeneration tariff is the same as for everyone, but if we look at the distribution network as a whole, 70% of the company’s revenue is the variable part of the tariff received by the company per kilowatt hour and 30% is the fee. for power connection.
“As someone who has installed, for example, solar panels, I do not pay the variable part of the tariff. But the cost of the Distribution Network has not changed at all, and it is not reduced because someone has a solar microgenerator. So it would be healthy and understandable if the fixed part of the tariff structure would become larger, but the variable part would decrease, “said Jansons.
He stressed that if the tariff structure is not changed and microgeneration continues to grow, it will most likely have to switch to a fixed fee. Sadales tīkls has not yet negotiated with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on when this could happen. This could be discussed when the current tariff plan comes to an end.
“At the same time, I don’t want to make a fuss, because when someone hears about a tariff change, there is a feeling that we will definitely get bigger bills. The changes will focus on us being able to live better Because the fee will be fixed, so I would urge people to look at it in the same way as mobile tariffs. you have to follow how many minutes you can arrange so as not to overpay, “said Jansons.
The chairman of the board of the distribution network revealed that due to microgeneration, no one is currently completely renouncing contracts with electricity traders, because the current technological possibilities do not really mean that someone could be a completely autonomous island in terms of electricity supply.
“Such solutions, where batteries allow enough energy to be stored in the summer to last for the winter, are very expensive. Therefore, there is currently no practice of any power outages at all. Only at the beginning of the pandemic did a company simply shut down. or an individual gave up electricity that was not used, which is no longer visible at present, “the company manager noted.
“Sadales tīkls” is the maintenance and developer of the electricity network in Latvia, which belongs to the state-owned Latvenergo Group. The company provides operation, renewal and planned development of distribution networks, monitoring of electricity consumption, loss reduction measures and electricity accounting, as well as creation of new connections.
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