German Regional Grid Asks Users to Save Power to Balance Network

(Bloomberg) -- A grid operator in southwest Germany asked users to reduce electricity demand on Friday to help balance the network. 

TransnetBW GmBH posted an orange alert on its app asking consumers to save electricity starting at 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. local time. The operator also requested power imports to increase supplies and offset a bottleneck created by large volumes of wind generation trying to access the grid in the north. 

The alert of the StromGedacht app does not signal that power cuts are imminent, said the regional grid operator in an emailed statement. “But it does signal that TransnetBW must do more than usual to keep the power grid stable.”

TransnetBW’s request for more than 500 megawatts of imports was needed after high wind levels in northeastern Germany flooded the grid leading to a redirection of flows in the area of the Baden-Wuerttemberg, according to the utility.

Germany is building so-called electricity highways between the north and the south of the country to move large amounts of electricity from where it’s produced to where it’s consumed. The current network can’t handle large amounts of wind power surging on the grid and requires substantial intervention to keep flows steady.

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