2023-10-20 19:25:49
Unable to absorb all the electricity produced, the electricity grid becomes an obstacle for users of solar panels. Large investments will be necessary to absorb this new energy produced by consumers themselves.
One thousand two hundred solar panels are being installed at the La Fontenelle college in Cernier, in Val-de-Ruz (NE). By the end of the project in November, they were expected to produce 500 KW, or the consumption of 150 households.
But the electricity network will not be able to support the load, deplores Diego Fischer, co-president of Coopsol. “We can only inject 95 KW at this location,” he indicates in the 7:30 p.m. of the RTS. The electricity grid can only accommodate a fifth of what was planned. Work will be carried out to improve the situation within two years.
Miss to win
This low absorption capacity of the network represents a shortfall in earnings for the Cooperative, which invested 900,000 francs in the installation. The energy then had to be sold back to the electricity supplier.
The case is rare but could become more frequent if nothing is done in the future, according to Groupe E, which distributes electricity to Cernier. “The distribution network was not designed for decentralized production. It was designed to transport electricity from large power plants to consumers,” explains Fabrice Bonvin, director of electricity distribution at Groupe E.
“Today, the paradigm has completely changed. It is necessary to strengthen the network to accept all these photovoltaic panel connections and all this energy that comes from customers. And that takes time,” he continues.
For Sara Eicher, head of Ra&D at HEIG-VD, the problem goes further. “For the moment, electrical storage is not ready. So we have to find another solution and the network is not ready to accommodate as much photovoltaics as we produce today.”
A challenge for the Swiss electricity network
Despite these storage problems, solar electricity production continues to explode: it has more than doubled in five years and now covers the equivalent of the annual consumption of around 1.2 million households.
However, to achieve climate objectives, Switzerland will still have to do twice as much by 2030.
For this, the network will have to be reinforced locally and in the highest voltage lines. According to the OFEN, 30 to 37 billion would be necessary to strengthen and develop it in order to supply energy to this future zero-carbon Switzerland, knowing that 45 billion francs by 2050 are in any case necessary for the maintenance of the network .
TV subject: Emilien Verdon and Pascal Jeannerat
Adaptation web: juma
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