According to Laurian Altweg, deputy chairman of the Federal Electricity Commission, power outages lasting several hours are expected in Switzerland this winter. For those with wood stoves this winter, Altweg advised in his interview with RTS that there should be enough candles and firewood.
He said the outage may not happen, but we need to be prepared. It is estimated that over the coming winter he could be 3 TWh short of the required electricity in Switzerland. 3 TWh corresponds to approximately 9% of Switzerland’s annual electricity consumption.
This problem is exacerbated by several factors. This winter, it will be more difficult for Switzerland to meet its shortfall by importing electricity from neighboring countries, as it usually does. Switzerland typically imports about 5 TWh of electricity in winter. With about half of France’s nuclear reactors now shut down for maintenance, France has less electricity to export. And Germany, which is dependent on gas, is in trouble. About 15% of Germany’s electricity comes from gas.
A situation where current high electricity prices reduce demand, and more rainfall could increase potential hydropower and increase the output of Swiss nuclear power plants could help.
Reducing electricity consumption is another measure the government is pushing. Avoiding clothes dryers and electric stoves, turning off unnecessary lights and converting them to LED are obvious ways to save money.
Another is to keep an electric car in your garage instead of alternatives like trains and bikes. Household electricity consumption in Switzerland ranges from 4,500 to 5,000 kWh per year for an average her four-person household.An average electric car driving 20,000 km per year can consume 4,000 kWh1 This is almost double the annual power consumption of an average household. So having it in the garage really helps keep the lights on.
Swiss ski resorts are also discussing reducing or reducing the operation of lifts and snow equipment during the winter months.
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1 Average electric vehicle consumption: about 200 Wh/km x 20,000 = 4,000 KWh
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