The strong demand for PV systems has not only led to bottlenecks in inverters and PV panels as well as skilled workers, grid operators have also come under criticism for delaying the installation of photovoltaic systems. The managing director of Netz OÖ, Manfred Hofer, rejects this accusation. “We cannot influence the limits of physics,” Hofer said on Thursday during a background discussion.
“We are committed to the political goals and to the implementation of the Renewable Energy Expansion Act 2030,” said Hofer. They want to connect as much photovoltaic as possible and support every customer, “but we have simply given limits due to physics”.
The priority for the network operators is the security of supply, stressed Hofer. “We cannot provide such a connection immediately, just in time. Irrespective of the quantity of inquiries, an electrotechnical calculation is necessary, and that cannot be done overnight. That will not be possible in the future either, it is too sensitive, because the next day the neighbor would complain if the voltage was no longer right, that the devices would break.”
For 100,000 systems of the five network operators of the Forum for Security of Supply in Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Upper Austria, 90 percent have already been approved, and there have been restrictions for around 5 percent. However, this can be intercepted by electricity storage.
One was surprised by the effects of the Ukraine war, said Hofer. “We used to have 50 to 100 applications per week, at the time of the OeMAG peak funding peaks of 200, and overnight we had 2,000 applications in one week.” That was 8,000 inquiries at Netz OÖ alone throughout the month.
Hofer said it would make sense to also focus on storage when it comes to the generation peaks in photovoltaics. “The more the customer saves, the less network expansion is necessary.”
The network operators are dissatisfied with the interest that the regulatory authority wants to concede to the network operators for their investments. An interest rate of less than 4 percent is too little and “not a favorable environment for the billions that we will invest,” Hofer referred to the recent interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve to 3.75 to 4 percent. “From today’s perspective, the interest rate should be between 5 and 6 percent, said Hofer. He has in mind an interest rate formula with a fixed base of 4 percent, “the rest can go up or down.”
Source: Nachrichten
