Elcom President looks back on warnings about power shortages
Published: Thursday, Feb 29th 2024, 01:50
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Looking back, Elcom President Werner Luginbühl has confirmed the warnings of an electricity shortage. The feared shortage did not materialize, primarily due to the weather, as Luginbühl said in an interview on Thursday.
It rained a lot in the fall of 2022 and the winter was unusually mild. "That's the only reason we got off lightly," said the President of the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung published on Thursday. The situation was very threatening.
"It's always easy to criticize decisions after the fact," said Luginbühl when asked by the newspaper about a decision made by the Federal Administrative Court last week. According to the ruling, the Federal Council should not have issued an operating ordinance for the reserve power plant in Birr AG, which was intended to supply Switzerland with electricity in the event of a shortage. The judges' criticism was primarily directed at the fact that the lower court had not explained in sufficient detail why a reserve power plant was needed, said Luginbühl.
No all-clear
This year has also seen a mild winter with above-average precipitation, said the Elcom President. In addition, nuclear power plants had produced more electricity than they had for years. This has led to a slightly positive balance in foreign electricity trading.
However, he did not want to speak of the all-clear just over a month ago. In order to be prepared for unforeseen events in the coming winter of 2024/25, the measures introduced must be continued, said the Elcom President at the Swiss Electricity Congress in Bern in mid-January.
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