The prosumors stopped, Cernavoda ready to reduce the power

On Sunday, April 20, when the Orthodox and Catholic Easter will be celebrated the same day, the national and European energy system could be subject to a major challenge. In a context in which the electricity consumption will be extremely low, and the very high solar energy production, the Romanian authorities are preparing for exceptional measures. Among them, an appeal to prosumers in Romania will voluntarily stop their photovoltaic installations.

The Minister of Energy, Sebastian Burduja, said on Tuesday, after a meeting of the National Energy Command, that such a call will be launched to the more than 100,000 Romanian prosumers who inject energy on the network.

« I discussed with the president of the Association of Swimmer, Mr. Pîrșan. I understand that a message is coming out, or it has already come out, and will recommend the prosumers to stop their inverters. Every prosumer knows how to do this, it is a very simple thing.
the minister explained.

The official data show that, at the end of January, prosumers in Romania had an installed power of over 2,440 MW – more than that of the commercial photovoltaic parks (2,334 MW). In the absence of direct control over these installations, the authorities are based on individual responsibility.

« The production facilities of the prosumers are not controlled by the distribution operators »,
Burduja said, stressing that the inverters are already scheduled to automatically disconnect if the network voltage exceeds 253 V.

The critical period will be on Sunday, between 11 and 16 hours, when, according to the estimates of the national energy dispatcher (DN), the electricity consumption could go down to only 2,500 MW – a very low value related to the available production potential.

In order to maintain the balance on the network, the authorities have prepared an intervention plan. Among the extreme measures considered are the temporary reduction of the power of the two reactors from Cernavoda.

« If necessary, the power of the reactors from the Cernavoda nuclear power plant will be reduced by 20%, or even 40%, if the situation requires it. But we try not to affect the activity of the 2 reactors, because they are quite rigid groups, as it is well known »,
Burduja pointed out.

Virgiliu Ivan, the head of the national energy dispatcher, confirmed the availability of all the big producers to intervene:

« At our disposal, Hidroelectrica can stop, if necessary, all the power plants, if the electricity surplus will be so large. Nuclearelectrica is also willing to reduce the power of its units for a few hours, so as to help. »

Other prepared measures include stopping the electricity production at Elcen Bucharest – which will work only with hot water boilers – and limiting the operation of the Oltenia Energy Complex to only two groups, to a reduced power.

« Elcen Bucharest will only operate hot water boilers, so it will stop the units that produce electricity. Also, the Oltenia Energy Complex will work only with 2 groups, and those at a reduced power, of 80 MW each, in total somewhere at 160 MW. Hidroelectrica will ensure the increase of consumption with the help of its units with pumping. Storage.
the Minister of Energy also reported.

The appeal to prosumers is unprecedented and comes in a context in which renewable energy plays an increasingly important, but also more difficult to manage in an interconnected system.