Overcoming bottlenecks in the power supply

Electricity is of central importance for the population and the entire economy and can certainly be described as the engine of modern society. If electricity supply and demand are no longer in balance for several days, weeks or even months, this is referred to as a bottleneck in the electricity supply or an electricity shortage. Such a situation can occur, for example, when the water levels in rivers and reservoirs are low, domestic electricity production is therefore reduced and the deficit cannot be covered by additional imports. 

Large consumers in the focus of energy companies

In Switzerland, the supply of electricity is fundamentally a matter for the economy. If the economy is no longer in a position to counter a shortage situation with its own resources, the federal government intervenes to control the situation. As a first step, the population and companies are called upon to voluntarily reduce their electricity consumption. If appeals for savings are not sufficient, the national economic supply can fall back on prepared electricity management measures to control electricity consumption and supply. If an electricity shortage occurs, the ‘Organisation for Electricity Supply in Extraordinary Situations’ (OSTRAL) will take action on the instructions of the Federal Office for National Economic Supply. 

If appeals for savings and restrictions on consumption (prohibition on the use of non-essential appliances and systems) do not have the necessary effect, a ‘quota system’ is introduced. In this case, only a reduced percentage of the amount of electricity normally consumed is available to each large consumer. The quota system is intended to avoid even more serious measures such as periodic grid shutdowns.

Large consumers with OSTRAL quotas prepared in the SILOVEDA® web portal

The SILOVEDA® energy data management system helps large-scale consumers to prepare for such scenarios. By means of daily or even shorter intervals, the customer is provided with forecast values that show how high the current consumption is and how much energy remains until the end of the period. As an example, the diagram above shows the daily consumption, the cumulative monthly and previous year's comparative values, the monthly quota and the trend or forecast up to the end of the month.

Large consumers receive the forecast data by e-mail or via a web portal and can use it to synchronise their consumption and the required processes. Further measurement data processing is easily possible at any time with SILOVEDA® measurement and energy data management and its calculation and forecasting functions in order to counteract the challenges of a possible power shortage.

Into the future with dynamism and flexibility

The standard SILOVEDA® system is an innovative tool for device management and time series processing that can process measurement series from a wide range of sectors such as electricity, gas, heat, water and emissions into useful company key figures and reports. The modular SILOVEDA® measurement and energy data management system can be easily adapted or expanded to meet new requirements at any time.

SILOVEDA® and the LOADMAP® forecasting service bear the ‘swiss made software’ label and are constantly being further developed in Brunnen on Lake Lucerne. Benefit from over 35 years of experience and the extensive expertise of Girsberger Informatik AG.