On April 23, the Polish Power Grid announced a threat to the security of electricity supply. Due to record production from solar power plants, it is possible for the operator to disconnect windmills and solar farms, as well as renewable energy prosumers generating electricity in micro-installations (installations of up to 50 kW). The operator has […]
On April 23, the Polish Power Grid announced a threat to the security of electricity supply. Due to record production from solar power plants, it is possible for the operator to disconnect windmills and solar farms, as well as renewable energy prosumers generating electricity in micro-installations (installations of up to 50 kW).
The operator has also begun emergency energy exports – 7.25 GWh to Germany, Slovakia and Sweden. The declaration of an emergency allows the operator to reduce the capacity of RES sources connected not only to the transmission networks, which are under the responsibility of PSE, but also wind and solar power plants connected to medium- and low-voltage networks operated by power companies.
In general, we record record levels of generation from photovoltaic sources in 2023:
To date, the highest generation from photovoltaic panels was recorded on April 21, 2023, when it reached more than 8.4 GW, while the record for wind farm generation was on February 20, 2023, at 7.9 GW.
The current ( April 23, 2023) total generation from RES (photovoltaic, wind, hydro), although high, is not yet a record, and will fall in the near future:
However, the confluence of several factors has created a crisis situation.
First, the record generation from photovoltaic panels occurred at a time of low power demand, which repeats every weekday weekend:
Second , thanks to favorable weather conditions, the demand for energy for heating purposes is now decreasing:
Admittedly, in Poland, electricity is not the main source of heating, but nevertheless this type of heating works. On the other hand, quite a lot of electricity is consumed during the heating season by equipment necessary for the operation of other heating systems (for example, water circulation pumps in central heating systems).
Thirdly, recently the supply of imported energy has improved – after a break of several months, Ukraine has unblocked the export of energy to Poland. Since 12.04, electricity has been flowing from the Dobrotwór power plant. The break was the result of the destruction of energy infrastructure by Russian missiles. Flows on the Ukrainian-Polish connection will increase. As of April, Polish Power Grid has awarded a tender for the line’s transmission capacity, reaching 265 MW.
However, the overcapacity crisis will not be prolonged. After the weekend, the demand for power will increase, moreover, in the middle of the week weather conditions will worsen ( decrease in temperature and wind speed).
Generation from controllable fossil sources will begin to increase:
Finally, it should be noted that the balancing market has worked well in the current situation, as the price of energy has increased only temporarily and moderately:
Source: PSE: https://www.pse.pl/obszary-dzialalnosci/rynek-energii/ceny-i-ilosc-energii-na-rynku-bilansujacym
