Easter problems did not recur, Czech solar plants posed no threat to grid operations this summer

Rising electricity generation from solar power plants during the summer did not cause any significant problems for the operation of the Czech distribution grid, even on particularly sunny days. The problems seen over this year’s Easter weekend did not recur. At the time, transmission system operator ČEPS disconnected hundreds of solar plants for two hours because of grid fluctuations. This is according to information from ČEPS and distributors provided to the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

„From Easter until today, solar power plants have not caused us any major problems. We balanced any deviations from generation forecasts and plans by activating balancing services within the limits of the reserves we had purchased,“ said Lukáš Hrabal of ČEPS.

Distributors also describe the summer as trouble-free. „During the summer holidays, we did record an increase in electricity generation on our grid, in line with the sunny weather and the growing number of solar installations, but we saw no exceptional events in terms of balancing,“ EG.D spokesperson Roman Šperňák said. He added that the company had taken operational and technical measures to ensure the grid could handle higher generation, particularly in the areas of voltage regulation and grid configuration.

ČEZ Distribuce also reported no problems related to the hot, sunny summer. Although it recorded higher electricity flows from solar plants into the distribution grid than last year, spokesperson Soňa Holingerová said, grid faults in summer are more often caused by increasingly frequent severe storms accompanied by strong winds.

„The peak output of individual solar power plants is also currently lower than in April, when these types of power sources typically record their highest generation levels. This is because solar panels are less efficient at high temperatures,“ Holingerová noted.

This year’s Easter Monday in April therefore remains the first and, so far, only instance in which the transmission system operator has disconnected hundreds of solar plants from the grid. ČEPS disconnected plants with a combined capacity of approximately 400 megawatts for around two hours, specifically in areas served by the ČEZ Distribuce and EG.D distribution grids. The reason was an imbalance in the power system, which experts said was caused by sunny weather combined with low consumption. According to distributors, investments to strengthen the grid will be needed to prevent similar cases in the future.

In the first half of this year, energy companies commissioned 45.197 solar power plants. The number of installations is almost a quarter higher than for the whole of last year.