– It’s going to be exciting this winter – E24

In February, E24 wrote that Fortum-controlled Uniper had ignited the Karlshamn oil power plant, to ensure the stable operation of the power system during the period of high consumption and high prices.

Now this has been repeated, and the Swedes began producing electricity from oil long before the winter cold came.

– In the past two weeks, Karlshamnsverket has been running for nine working days, Uniper Sweden press officer Torbjörn Larsson wrote in an email to E24.

– Three days last week we drove up two blocks. We must go back to 2010 to see a similar redundancy in operations, he writes.

In full operation, the Karlshamn power plant burns 70 tons of oil per hour. The oil comes from the Brim refinery in Lysekil. The power plant will be closed for a few weeks now, but could restart in November.

– Now, however, the plant has entered a four-week audit shutdown to be in top condition as part of its power reserve between November 16 and March 15, in agreement with Svenska Kraftnät, Larsson writes.

– Grand

Svenska Kraftnät complies with Norway’s Statnett, and the oil-fired power plant in Karlshamn is part of the grid operator’s reserve. This means that it must be ensured that the network operates properly on cooler days, and helps to avoid outages.

“In the past two weeks, there has been a general shortage of electricity production in large parts of Europe, which relates to the production of weather-dependent electricity that has not been able to supply as much as the market requires, while Europe is phasing out fossils power stations and some countries” . Larson.

This, he says, has led to a significant shortfall in stable electricity production, and affects southern Sweden, which is dependent on transmission capacity from northern Sweden and its southern neighbors.

– The fact that the electricity market offers Karlshamnsverket to this extent shows how serious the situation is when it comes to energy supply. Karlshamnsverket is always the facility in Sweden that enters the last bidding, as the marginal cost is too high, Larsson writes.

– Limited Transport

Sweden faces the same challenge as Norway, with limited transmission capacity from electricity surplus regions in the north to high-consuming regions in the south. Thus, prices in both Norway and Sweden were much higher in the south than in the north.

Last week, the station was operating based on the price, but the lack of network may lead to the use of the oil power station also this winter.

The power plant is typically used to ensure grid stability in southern Sweden, Österlind tells E24.

– There is limited internal transfer in Sweden and we do not have much production in the south. In periods when there is little wind power and a large flow from Sweden to Norway, we have problems in securing sufficient impact in southern Sweden. It then uses Karlshamn on standby to balance the network and frequency, he says.

– Bad for several years

– How is the power situation in Sweden?

– it’s bad. It has been bad for several years, and will remain a concern until winter. The problem is that you can’t move as much energy from north to south as you’d like. Osterlind says there are restrictions in the network through November, and they will likely be extended.

– Aren’t new lines built?

– Svenska Kraftnät is building new lines, but is 5-10 years behind development plans. Plans were also made before people started thinking about electric cars and the production of carbon-free steel. Consumption is expected to increase, but the network is lagging behind for several reasons. He says things take time.

E24 previously reported concerns among the Stockholm region’s business community, who fear a power shortage could slow growth in southern Sweden. The region is expected to increase its maximum power requirements from 2,500 MW to 3,500 MW, and then more lines will be required.

This year the Swedish government introduced a bill to sharply reduce the processing time for cases in the development of the network. In Norway too, there is concern in the business community about the lack of a network. This year, the government set up a fast-acting committee led by Enova CEO Nils Christian Nakstad to see what can be done.

– It’s going to be hot this winter

With such high prices and so little water in Norwegian magazines now, Osterlind is excited about what happens when the cold starts right. He hopes the price jump will speed up solutions.

– I think it might be useful to face these problems now. Then maybe something can be done to counteract the energy shortage in the future. Perhaps you can speed up the investments that need to be made in the network. It might be helpful to know what could happen if the system didn’t work properly, he says.

– We can have problems in February, when the temperature is minus 15 degrees. Then problems with the effect can occur, and in the worst case there can be interruptions. Prices can be very high if there is no rain this fall. The manager says it will be exciting this winter.

Much higher than usual

Southern Sweden is connected to Finland, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany, among other countries, and currently has more electricity than southern Norway. On Tuesday, electricity costs 1.42 NOK per kilowatt-hour in the SE4 price zone, according to the Nord Pole energy exchanger. The rate for Southern Norway is NOK 1.20 per kWh, excluding network rent and fees.

– It’s much higher than usual. Prices have sometimes been linked to the price level in Germany and Denmark. On days when there is little wind, Osterlind says, it gets expensive in large parts of Sweden, while it’s cheaper in the north.

In Sweden, the price so far in September was 125 euros per megawatt-hour, compared to the Nordic system price of 88 euros. He says the price in northern Sweden is only 55 euros, so it’s cheap in the north.

This corresponds to NOK 1.27, 90 øre and 56 øre per kWh, respectively.

– How is this seen in Sweden?

In Sweden, there are a lot of costs on the electricity grid and taxes. So the actual electricity price usually doesn’t show up much on bills. It is only now that it is so loud that people notice it. With these prices, there will be more writing than usual, Osterlind says.