Fear of energy collapse
Is the electricity grid collapsing because of electric heaters?
For fear of an energy collapse, thousands of households stock up on electric stoves. Now the fear of the network collapsing is growing.
Thousands of people in Switzerland are currently stocking up on electric stoves for fear of an impending energy crisis. Compared to the previous year, the demand for radiators increased by 398 percent in July, announced this week the online retailer Digitec Galaxus.
The fear of buyers: A possible imminent lack of gas in winter. Because of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions once morest Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin (69) is currently flexing his muscles. Only 20 percent of the usual amount of gas flows to Europe. If Russia turns off the gas tap completely, it will quickly become uncomfortable in winter – and at worst cold in the living room.
Experts are now warning once morest the large-scale use of Öfeli. The use of thousands of electrical emergency heaters might “lead to great instability for Switzerland’s energy balance,” says Michael Frank zur “Sunday newspaper”.
Oven heating is also conceivable
The director of the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies (VSE) fears that electricity consumption will “increase massively” due to the mass use of Öfeli. “Then we would not only have a big problem with gas, but soon also with electricity.”
The danger is great that the reservoirs would be emptied more quickly. But these are central to the power supply in winter. We therefore advise once morest using electric stoves for heating.
Experts also fear that some will come up with the idea of heating their homes using the oven. But these consume exactly the same amount of electricity.
Ban on electric ovens?
Around 300,000 households in Switzerland heat with gas. How they keep their room warm in the event of a gas failure has not been clarified. At the request of the “Sonntagszeitung”, the authorities pushed the question back and forth. The Federal Office for National Supply (BWL) finally announced that the Federal Council would soon deal with this question.
The authorities also warn once morest the use of Heiz-Öfeli. These would “exacerbate the situation”. In theory, the Federal Council might also ban such emergency electrical heating systems. However, it is unclear how this ban is to be implemented and controlled.
