HVAC drives Swiss move to distributed microgrids
The increased demand for air conditioning is driving a fundamental change in the way power grids are architected in Switzerland.
Cooling and ventilation (HVAC) systems now account for nearly 11% of electricity use in Switzerland, not far from the 14% figure for heating. Air conditioning contributes to urban heat islands, adding to the pressure on power plants and increases the load on power grids.
A Federal Act on a Secure Electricity Supply (Mantelerlass) was adopted in June and aims is to create “energy communities” in which buildings share the power they generate with each other as needed, potentially meeting all of their own demand. This is particularly relevant for air conditioning, where demand comes in the summer when the output of local solar panels is highest.
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Technology already exists to address issues with synchronizing supply and demand while meeting the grid constraints, says Prof. Mario Paolone from the Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory at Swiss University EPFL.
“As far as the grid is concerned, managing demand for cooling systems isn’t that different from managing demand for heating systems. But the challenge is that the need for electricity is growing overall, not just because of air conditioning, since a growing number of processes are going electric,” said Paolone.
“That’s true for businesses as well as consumers. Heat pumps and electric vehicles are more efficient than gas-fired boilers and combustion engines, for example. It’s this electrification of processes that’s driving the change.”
“We now have the technology to calculate the load factor of a grid based on power flow. This can be done with locational marginal pricing, for instance. We’re working on a project with the Lausanne power utility to use this form of pricing to maximize the benefits for all participants in a given market while also enhancing the performance of the power grid. The idea is to find the best way to reduce the investment and operating costs for an entire community. We have the answers in theory, but we’re missing the right legal framework to implement them. A project with the Lausanne power utility is intended to test one option under real-world conditions.”
“The additional demand is impacting local power grids, which were already congested. Existing power lines and transformers weren’t sized for the kind of load they’re now experiencing. Power plants are also under greater pressure as they must supply the additional electricity and keep enough reserves to accommodate the often-unpredictable spikes in demand. If we want to fill the gap with renewable energy, an estimated 40 GW of additional solar power will be needed to meet Switzerland’s demand for electricity, including electricity for heating systems, cooling systems and electric vehicles. But that will make local power grids even more congested and increase the required reserves.”
“We’ll undoubtedly see energy communities being created all around Switzerland to produce and manage their own electricity – for not just air conditioning but also heating and electric vehicles – and ease congestion on the national grid. More broadly, however, we’ll need to manage demand for power in general more effectively if we want to mitigate the impact on our grid and energy reserves,” he said. “There’s also the issue of how costs are distributed among power producers, power consumers and power grid operators.”
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