News
27 May 2020, 13:32
Freja Eriksen

Costs of stabilising German power grid fall again in 2019

Clean Energy Wire

Costs of stabilising the German power grid decreased again in 2019 to 1.2 billion euros compared to 1.4 billion euros the previous year, show preliminary data from the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA). 2.8 percent of all renewable power generated was curbed and 709.5 million euros had to be paid to renewable operators in compensation for this, said the agency. Onshore wind power plants in particular could not feed all of their generated electricity into the German power grid due to risks of grid overload, accounting for 78 percent of curbed electricity. Offshore wind accounted for 18 percent. The so-called re-dispatch measures necessary to stabilise the grid when electricity cannot flow freely due to network constraints cost 291.9 million euros – about 38 percent less than the year before. Countertrade between bidding zones to relieve grid congestion more than doubled in 2019, mainly due to a bilateral agreement between Germany and Denmark.

The total cost of grid and system security measures – which German electricity consumers ultimately pay – peaked in 2017 with around 1.5 billion euros due to lagging grid expansion, a Europe-wide cold spell and a record feed-in of wind power. Rising re-dispatch costs for grid stabilisation have become a point of concern in a German power system increasingly based on fluctuating renewable energy sources. With a "grid expansion acceleration act" passed in 2019 Germany wants to make sure that necessary lines are completed by 2025 to reduce costly stabilisation procedures due to grid blockages.

All texts created by the Clean Energy Wire are available under a “Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0)” . They can be copied, shared and made publicly accessible by users so long as they give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
« previous news next news »

Ask CLEW

Researching a story? Drop CLEW a line or give us a call for background material and contacts.

info@cleanenergywire.org

+49 30 62858 497

Journalism for the energy transition

Get our Newsletter
Join our Network
Find an interviewee