Record recorded in Romania on the first day of Easter. Electricity consumption has reached a historical minimum
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On the first day of Easter this year, celebrated on the same day by Catholics, but also by Orthodox, the consumption of electricity has reached a historical minimum, writes Economica.net. Against the background of the holiday, but also of the good weather outside, the electricity consumption decreased on Sunday around 12:40 below the threshold of 2,600 MW. On a regular day, consumption is 7,000 MW.
The national electricity consumption has decreased below the level of 2,800 MW near the middle of Easter, according to Transelectrica data. And it continued to decrease to near the level of 2,500 MW, notes Economica.net.
On Sunday, around 2:30 pm, the national energy consumption remained low, but had not descended below the threshold of 2,500 MW. Hidroelectrica reduced its injection into the system to probably the lowest level since the company was founded, 256 MW, according to the source previously cited.
At 12:30, Transelectrica's data also showed that the photovoltaic parks reduced from the power cut in the national energy system.
Previously, the lowest consumption in the recent history of the country was registered on May 5 last year, also Easter, 2,896 MW, according to economica.net.
Measures taken by authorities to avoid a current wedge
The authorities have announced since the beginning of the week that they have made a series of decisions by which the energy system would be balanced, because they expected that in the days when Romanians celebrate Easter Electricity consumption to decrease.
The National Energy Dispatch of Transelectrica has taken measures for each type of producer, to reduce the production:
- Hidroelectrica – groups can stop so that the production is as close to zero as possible
- Nuclearelectrica-if necessary, 20-40%power will be made, if the situation will require it, but we try not to affect the activity of the two reactors, because they are quite rigid groups.
- The Oltenia Energy Complex will operate with two 80 MW groups, so 160 MW in total.
- Elcen will stop the units that produce electricity.
To increase consumption, Hidroelectrica will put into operation the pumps it has, which will contribute with 50 MW, and the 400 MWh batteries that exist in the system will charge and help balancing.
The Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, said he also spoke with the president of the Association of Switch, who recommended the prosumers to stop the inverters, which means that the prosumers no longer deliver electricity on the network and consume the energy produced by their own photovoltaic panels.
Measures do not have Easter power feathers: prosumers are asked to stop their inverters, the production of the Cernavoda plant could be reduced by half
Problems at European level – how a current wedge could be caused
This concern for balancing the system on Easter days also exists at European level, especially in Germany, which has installed many photovoltaic parks in recent years.
“Current feathers can occur during the holidays? Businessmen and politicians are worried: current feathers could occur in sunny holidays due to low demand,” wrote the German publication in February.
Solar installations in Germany cause a problem – and it is currently a dangerous dimension: many of the installations cannot be controlled. Thus, an uncontrolled surplus of solar energy can appear.
The competent authorities and companies are currently worried about the following scenario: a sunny day could bring Germany so much solar energy that it can not be consumed or exported. This is particularly possible on the holidays in the spring or summer, when people consume little electricity, for example Easter.
In this case, a situation is outlined that worries the specialists: if the energy surplus grows too much, the solar installations must be disconnected from the network. However, because only part of these installations can be controlled from a distance, in case of necessity the entire distribution network to which these solar panels are connected – which would mean a power break for all consumers connected to that network, writes German journalists.
Concern became acute because of recent solar boom. In 2024, a million solar installations with a total capacity of about 16 GW were built in Germany. For comparison, the entire energy system of Romania is 18 GW.
