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Europe’s grid operators teamed up successfully to battle eclipse
The partial solar eclipse of 20 March could have played havoc with Europe’s electricity system and affected supplies – as there is now a vast amount more solar PV installed in Europe’s electricity grids than the last time the phenomenon occurred in 1999.
Thankfully, rapid variations in solar generation and a difficult-to-anticipate impact on demand were successfully managed by European Transmission System Operators (TSOs), thanks to both preparation and cooperation.
Operators had to cooperate to cover unusually fast loss, followed by even faster reintegration of around 17 GW of solar generation, with the help of generators and distribution system operators.
According to the European Network for Transmission System Operators, TSOs had managed to forecast with a lot of precision the effect of the eclipse on solar generation, taking even into account the ‘worst case scenario’ that the eclipse would take place on a sunny day, which it did in Germany and Italy – where the biggest challenges were.
News Item details
Journal title: Energy World
Keywords: electricity supply
Countries: Germany - Italy - Europe -
Organisation: European Transmission System Operators
Subjects: Solar energy
