2024-04-20 04:27:37
- Excess solar energy and lack of more maneuverable plants caused 50% of power frequency disturbances
- Three countries turn off their power because of us, and this costs the ESO a penalty of 900,000 euros
50% of the disruptions in the energy system of continental Europe last year were due to Bulgaria.
In the first three months of 2024, our country retains these 50 percent of frequency violations. This became clear from the words of the director of the Electricity System Operator (ESO), Angelin Tsachev, who presented the alarming facts to the energy committee in the parliament and requested legislative assistance from the deputies.
The 2023 data he reported showed that
30% of the disturbances were caused by France and the remaining 20% by all other countries
The problem is not so much in the solar plants as in the lack of balancing capacities that are more maneuverable and can be easily and quickly switched on and off. These are usually gas stations and gas plants.
In this situation, purely technically, it is necessary to immediately export the produced surplus abroad, but there is a danger that the normal 50 hertz for the network will change and this will lead to the collapse of the networks not only in our country, but also abroad.
Tsachev told the deputies that the network is not about to collapse, but the situation is serious.
“Once again, we were among the bad examples”, responded the head of the commission, Delyan Dobrev.
Tsachev specified that it did not go as far as the collapse of the network, but the situation is extremely serious. “In connection with this, it is necessary to take quick decisions that will enable good sustainability of the system,” he said.
On April 9, 2023, our country, due to the inability to balance more than 1076 megawatts of surplus, exported 900 megawatts unplanned within 1 hour, which led to frequency problems in the entire area of continental Europe, Tsachev gave an example.
An emergency procedure had to be launched by three other countries,
to balance the European system, which costs 900,000 euros to the ESO. The emergency procedure envisages that the operators of the other countries should shut down their capacities in such a situation.
The head of the ESO addressed the MPs, because at the level of European operators, reports will be requested from the national ones every month and there will be more serious sanctions in case of violation of the frequency.
“Now we rely on the European balancing platforms, but this is not enough, because each country is responsible for its reserves,” he added.
The chairman of the commission, Delyan Dobrev, insisted that the ESO submit proposals for legal changes by Monday and asked Tsachev what he would submit.
“We must not allow it to become a disco in our country,” said Dobrev.
The head of the ESO shared the measures being taken in Italy and Germany. Old generators in stopped currents are transformed and provide dynamic sustainability. However, the money for their work is included in the technological costs of the system operator.
His second proposal is to give price signals to investors to invest in shunt capacity projects. We need something to store the energy and make it available to the dispatchers.
Tsachev mentioned guaranteeing investors’ returns by concluding contracts for the provision of this type of service for a longer period.
Otherwise, the measures that the ESO can take in these warm spring days with a lot of solar energy, in addition to limiting the production of electricity, is to stop the import of electricity.