German and European transmission system operators will stabilise the electricity grid during the WWF initiative to combat climate change, “Earth Hour”, RWE
Release Date: 2009-03-30
The control centres of German transmission system operators are fully prepared
But operators can also see the risks of the initiative
European-wide cooperation between power grids will offset any fluctuation in capacity
When “Earth Hour”, initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to com-bat climate change, takes place on Saturday 28 March 2009, German and Euro-pean electricity transmission operators will have the task of offsetting the antici-pated demand fluctuations and ensuring ongoing security of supply. During the worldwide “Earth Hour” initiative, WWF is asking people to signal their commitment to combating climate change by switching off their lights for one hour, from 8.30 to 9.30 p.m.
Transmission system operators are expecting many people all over Europe to take part in the initiative. This could lead to sudden load fluctuations within the European electricity grid. For this reason, the transmission system operators sought dialogue with the WWF in the lead-up to the event to point out the risks of the exercise and find ways to minimise them. It is important, for instance, that people stagger the time at which they switch their lights on and off. Turning off their lights before the official start time and leaving them off for longer than planned will ensure a stable power supply and a great deal of success for the initiative.
German transmission system operators are taking precautionary measures to ensure no electricity outages occur as a result of any strong fluctuation in de-mand.
Their partners within the European Union are also fully informed and will contrib-ute to balancing out the system. Some of the precautionary measures include boosting staffing levels of control centres, making provision for additional re-serves in pump-fed power stations, talking to power generators and distribution system operators as well as increasing the degree of cooperation between Euro-pean grid operators.
Because the transmission system operators advocate 100% integration of re-newables, they are expanding their networks accordingly and thus making their own contribution to combating climate change.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | RWE |
| Country: | Germany |
| Url: | http://www.rwe.com/web/cms/en/113648/rwe/press-news/press-release/?pmid=4003206 |