Axpo bundles emergency power group capacities for the winter months and reinforces power supply in Switzerland

07.12.2022 - The winter power supply situation remains tense. Joining forces, the energy industry and policy-makers are initiating measures to prevent a power shortage situation. In the upcoming winter months, Axpo will bundle capacities from emergency power groups and make them available if needed. An agreement to this end has been concluded with the Swiss Federal Government.

Axpo will use its know-how to bundle emergency power group capacities and make these available to the government and Swissgrid in the case of an electricity supply shortage. To this end, Axpo took part in the federal government's invitation to tender for the emergency power groups, was awarded the contract and concluded a contract with the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). Axpo intends to recruit emergency power group owners to establish a supplementary winter power reserve, and, in doing so, further strengthen the security of supply. The use of emergency power groups is a measure set down in the Federal Government’s winter reserve ordinance.

Participation in winter power reserve

Interested owners of emergency power generators with a capacity of at least 750 kW can contact Axpo. Axpo takes care of all the subsequent steps including contractual details. The term of contract is four years. Emergency power group operators receive compensation in the form of a provision premium, which, among other things, covers the costs for fuel storage and transport, or the amortisation of the installation at a fixed amount. A supply premium, which covers all incurred costs for fuels including a reasonable surcharge, is paid when energy is drawn from the facility.

Emergency power group operators can register under www.axpo.com/notstromgruppe

Expert in energy bundling

The Axpo Group is a leader in marketing flexible systems in Switzerland. Since 2009, the company has acquired extensive know-how to become a proven partner for the installation, integration and pre-qualification of systems at Swissgrid. The Axpo Group’s Flexpool is one of the largest in the country and now comprises over 230 systems covering various technologies throughout Switzerland. With a pre-qualified capacity of over 700 MW from all third-party systems, the Axpo Group can offer its customers an established pooling solution to market its flexibility for primary, secondary and tertiary control energy throughout Switzerland. The Axpo subsidiary CKW, Switzerland's No. 1 in the marketing of flexible plants, was also awarded a contract from the government for bundling emergency power groups in a separate bid. As a result, the Axpo Group is making a relevant contribution to strengthening power supply in the upcoming winter by means of emergency power group pooling.

Additional Axpo measures for more winter power

During the summer, Axpo purposely retained water in its reservoirs so that they have remained full despite the extremely dry fall. This has made it possible to shift approximately one terawatt-hour of electricity to the winter season. In addition, owing to the tense energy situation, Axpo postponed the renovation of the Gigerwald reservoir on short notice in order to provide additional winter power of up to 160 gigawatt-hours.