Recently, the Swiss government has drafted a new policy. If the current energy crisis worsens, Switzerland will prohibit driving electric vehicles for “unnecessary” travel.
Relevant data show that about 60% of Switzerland’s energy comes from hydropower stations and 30% from nuclear power. However, the government has promised to phase out its nuclear power, while the rest comes from wind farms and traditional fossil fuels. Statistics show that Switzerland produces enough energy every year to maintain lighting, but seasonal climate fluctuations will lead to unpredictable situations.
Rainwater and snowmelt in warm months can keep the river water level and provide necessary resources for hydropower generation. However, the water level of lakes and rivers in colder months and Europe’s unusually dry summer has dropped, resulting in less hydropower generation, so Switzerland must rely on energy imports.
In the past, Switzerland imported electricity from France and Germany to meet all its electricity needs, but this year the situation has changed, and the energy supply of neighboring countries is also too busy.
France has been a net exporter of electricity for decades, but in the first half of 2022, French nuclear power suffered frequent setbacks. At present, the availability of French nuclear power units is slightly higher than 50%, leading France to become an electricity importer for the first time. Also due to the reduction of nuclear power generation, France may face the risk of power failure this winter. Earlier, the French grid operator said that it would reduce consumption by 1% to 5% under basic conditions, and at most 15% under the worst case. According to the latest power supply details disclosed by French BFM TV on the 2nd, the French power grid operator has started to formulate a specific power outage plan. The power outage areas are all over the country, and each family has a power outage of up to two hours a day, and only once a day.
The situation in Germany is similar. In the case of the loss of Russian pipeline natural gas supply, public utilities have to struggle.
As early as June this year, Elcom, the Swiss Federal Power Commission, said that due to the reduction of French nuclear power generation and export electricity, Switzerland’s electricity import from France this winter may be far lower than that in previous years, which does not rule out the problem of insufficient power capacity.
According to the news, Switzerland may need to import electricity from Germany, Austria and other neighboring countries of Italy. However, according to Elcom, the availability of electricity exports of these countries depends to a large extent on the availability of natural gas based fossil fuels.
How big is the electricity gap in Switzerland? According to foreign media reports, Switzerland has about 4GWh electricity import demand this winter. Why not choose electric energy storage facilities? Cost is an important reason. What Europe lacks more is seasonal and long-term energy storage technology. At present, long-term energy storage has not been popularized and applied on a large scale.
According to a survey conducted by Elcom on 613 Swiss power suppliers, most operators are expected to increase their electricity charges by about 47%, which means that household electricity prices will increase by about 20%. The surge in natural gas, coal and carbon prices, as well as the decline in French nuclear power generation, have all contributed to the rise in electricity prices in Switzerland.
According to the latest electricity price level of 183.97 euros/MWh (about 1.36 yuan/kWh) in Switzerland, the corresponding market price of the 4GWh electricity is at least 735900 euros, about 5.44 million yuan. If the highest electricity price in August is 488.14 euro/MWh (about 3.61 yuan/kWh), the corresponding cost of 4GWh is about 14.4348 million yuan.
Electric energy ban! Unnecessary prohibition of electric vehicles
A number of media reported that in order to cope with the potential power shortage and ensure energy security this winter, the Swiss Federal Council is currently drafting a draft that proposes regulations on “restricting and prohibiting the use of electric energy to ensure the national power supply”, clarifies the four stage action plan on avoiding power outages, and implements different bans when crises of different levels occur.
However, one of the most noteworthy items is related to the prohibition of driving electric vehicles in the third level. The document requires that “private electric vehicles are only allowed to be used for absolutely necessary travel (such as professional needs, shopping, seeing a doctor, attending religious activities, and attending court appointments).”
In recent years, the average sales volume of Swiss cars is about 300000 per year, and the proportion of electric vehicles is rising. In 2021, 31823 new registered electric vehicles were added in Switzerland, and the proportion of new electric vehicles in Switzerland from January to August 2022 reached 25%. However, due to insufficient chips and power supply problems, the growth of electric vehicles in Switzerland this year is not as good as that in previous years.
Switzerland plans to reduce urban electricity consumption by banning electric vehicle charging in some cases. This is a very innovative but extreme measure, which further highlights the seriousness of power shortage in Europe. This means that Switzerland may become the first country in the world to ban electric vehicles. However, this regulation is also very ironic, because at present, global transportation is shifting from fuel vehicles to electric vehicles to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and realize the transformation of clean energy.
When a large number of electric vehicles are connected to the power grid, it may indeed increase the risk of insufficient power supply and bring challenges to the stable operation of the power system. However, according to the opinion of experts in the industry, electric vehicles that will be promoted in a large scale in the future can also be used as energy storage facilities and collectively called to participate in peak shaving and valley filling of the power grid. Car owners can charge when the power consumption is low. They can reverse power supply to the power grid during the peak period of power consumption, or even when the power is short. This relieves the power supply pressure, ensures the safety and stability of the power system, and also improves the efficiency of the energy system.
Post time: Dec-12-2022
