Power supply secure - still need for action

At the 2016 annual media conference, ElCom presented the 2016 report on Switzerland's electricity supply security, as well as a Special report on the supply situation in winter 2015/2016.

Monitoring the security of supply

ElCom observes and monitors the development of electricity markets with a view to ensuring secure and affordable supplies in all parts of the country. To this end, it conducts regular monitoring of important parameters and influencing factors. ElCom publishes the results of its analyses in the report on Switzerland's electricity supply security, which is published every two years.

In this year's report, ElCom concludes on the basis of the results that Switzerland's security of supply is good and guaranteed in the medium term. Nevertheless, it sees a need for action in some areas, particularly in the networks and in production.

In the area of grids, project progress in the expansion of the transmission grid must continue to be monitored critically, especially in the case of projects with high relevance for supply security. A key project in this context is the Mühleberg coupling transformer with the Bassecourt-Mühleberg connecting line.

In the area of production, the focus is on maintaining an appropriate in-house production quota. A high level of supply security in Switzerland is a basic prerequisite for quality of life, and makes a significant contribution to Switzerland's attractiveness as a business location. ElCom is of the opinion that, in the long term, this security cannot be guaranteed solely by the option of importing electricity, which is not without risk in the medium term.

Tense supply situation last winter

The dependence on electricity imports in combination with other factors can lead to critical supply situations: The outage of the Beznau 1 and 2 nuclear power plants, low river and reservoir levels with reduced domestic production, and limited 380/220 kV transformer capacity were the main reasons for the tense supply situation in winter 2015/2016. In order to alleviate this, ElCom, together with Swissgrid and industry representatives, took technical and market measures. On the technical side, these included in particular the short-term increase in transformer capacity at the Laufenburg site through the commissioning of a temporary facility. On the market side, measures were ordered in the area of system services and a temporary adjustment was made to the auctions for export capacity. In addition, the price cap for balancing energy was lifted in order to create incentives for balancing the supply balance groups.

These measures, the restart of Beznau 2 at the end of December, and the comparatively warm and rainy winter weather led to an easing of the situation at the beginning of 2016.

Need for optimization

Based on the analyses in its special report on supply security winter 2015/2016, ElCom does not see any acute need for action at the legislative level. The legal framework conditions are sufficient and the tasks and responsibilities are defined. The supply of end consumers in the basic supply is the responsibility of the distribution network operators. The supply of free end customers is regulated under private law in the supply contracts. Swissgrid is responsible for transmission system operation, but has no supply responsibility. In Switzerland, there is neither a right to arbitrary import capacity nor a right to unrestricted network availability. Nevertheless, ElCom sees a need for optimisation:

• Risk-appropriate provision of control energy
• Ensuring sufficient import capacity
• Transparent network information for market participants
• Review of contractual relations for extraordinary situations

The corresponding work has been initiated and is in full swing with the participation of all industry players, ElCom has announced.

ElCom press release