Assisting with security of supply over winter: Axpo provides services for the Birr reserve power plant

Axpo is supporting the possible use of the Swiss federal government's temporary reserve power plant in Birr by providing services relating to fuel procurement, processing power plant requests and ensuring electricity delivery. In doing so, Axpo is making a further important contribution to security of supply in Switzerland during the critical winter months.

A temporary reserve power plant is currently being built in Birr on behalf of the federal government. The power plant is one of several measures to prevent electricity shortages and ensure security of supply in Switzerland during the coming winter months. The 250-megawatt system can be operated with oil and gas and will only run in exceptional circumstances (i.e. in the event of an impending electricity shortage), in accordance with ElCom specifications and when requested by Swissgrid.

Axpo will support the use of the reserve power plant with a range of services. The contract for the work was signed with the federal government this week. According to this, Axpo is responsible for the procurement of fuel and CO₂ certificates, processing of power plant requests and ensuring electricity deliveries, all in accordance with federal requirements.

A major contribution to security of supply

By providing services for the reserve power plant, Axpo is demonstrating its commitment to a stable power supply during the winter. In recent months, Axpo has taken other measures to ensure that more energy is available in Switzerland during the winter months. Two weeks ago, Axpo and its subsidiary CKW each received a contract from the federal government to pool the capacities of existing emergency electricity groups in Switzerland, so that their output could be made available to Swissgrid.

During the summer months, Axpo retained water in its reservoirs, shifting around 1 terawatt hour of electricity from summer to winter. Axpo has also postponed the upgrading of the Gigerwald dam, allowing it to make an additional 160 gigawatt hours of domestic electricity production available during the winter. Providing support for the reserve power plant represents another crucial factor in ensuring security of supply even over the winter. The energy sector and the federal government are working closely together in order to make this happen.