Filenews 24 January 2025
The ever-increasing cuts in electricity production from photovoltaic parks – but now also from very small parks and residential rooftop photovoltaics – are not a Cypriot phenomenon. It is a technical choice that is considered necessary and urgent by more and more electricity network operators, in order to protect their systems from risks of instability and partial or total extinction phenomena, in cases of overproduction of electricity from RES and low consumption.
The issue has been in the news in Cyprus in recent days, with many reactions from owners of residential photovoltaics, who saw in some cases in January their photovoltaics disconnected from the grid and not storing their production in it. The disconnection is mainly through the ripple control system (or newer technology), which is installed in the owner's infrastructure and allows the Distribution Operator (EAC), at the request of the Transmission Operator, to disconnect groups of residential photovoltaics remotely, to protect the smooth operation of the system and the smooth electricity supply of the country.
Photovoltaic disconnections are prioritized in large retail parks, but the large increase in electricity production from residential systems and small photovoltaic parks, combined with low consumption due to mild winter, obliges the Operators in recent days to make more frequent cuts of small photovoltaics, mainly those installed in 2023 and beyond, to which the "ripple control" was added.
What are they discussing in Germany?
According to reports in the European press, similar problems are faced by administrators in other countries. According to the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung in Germany (republished in cleanenergywire.org), electricity grid operators in Germany and representatives of electricity producers call on the country's parliament to immediately approve (before the elections of February 23rd) measures to better control and remotely limit small photovoltaics, following the large increase in photovoltaic production in the country and the limited consumption of photovoltaics some hours.
"The unlimited small-scale supply of solar energy threatens the stability of the German grid."
The Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung writes that grid operator TenneT and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) are pushing the political leadership to approve the necessary legislation ahead of Germany's federal election on February 23, saying that large production from solar power at peak times could threaten grid stability later this year.
Lawmakers are currently discussing a draft law to control and restrict photovoltaics. "In order to integrate the growing share of renewables into the energy system efficiently and in an economically reasonable manner, it is important that the amendment to avoid peaks in production is implemented before the end of the legislative period," said TenneT Germany's chief executive.
BDEW chief Kerstin Andreae also warned that "there is a threat to network stability without adequate control". Particularly on sunny days, problems can arise when too much electricity is generated during periods of low demand, and this is true regardless of future grid expansion," he explained.
She also explained that without the possibility of special control of production in critical situations, there is a risk that some network lines (power consumers) will have to be temporarily disconnected from the grid in order to stabilize the system, so-called brownouts.
A large part of the new installed capacity from photovoltaics in Germany comes from small-scale systems of less than 100 kilowatts, which, according to the current rules, feed into the grid what they produce, without the possibility for operators to limit remote production (as is done from mid-2023 in Cyprus), when this is necessary to ensure grid stability.
