Comment |  The price of electricity is rocketing because of the freeze — it’s a ‘wolf winter’ as Swedes say. This indicates the great need of a robust and cost-effective electricity system.

Electricity is a commodity that currently cannot be stored. It has to be produced at the instant it is put to use. The electricity grid needs an ‘effect’ to be able to maintain supply. Without that effect, we risk blackouts. Svenska Kraftnät, the state utility that runs and administers the national electrical grid, can even disconnect users in an acute situation.

Sweden’s record for daily electricity use, 27 000 MW, was set in 2001. Last Friday, electricity use was predicted to hit 26 600 MW. What is called the ‘effect reserve’ was plugged in. Some industries with separate agreements with the utility planned to cut production to safeguard the grid.

So we’re very close to setting records and hitting a new effect peak, with industry still in a downturn. In normal times, the current situation would be serious — in a boom, even worse.

This shows how important a robust electricity system is for Sweden. It is extremely unfortunate that two nuclear reactors are off-line for extended renovation and inspection work. But it shows how small the margins are and illustrates what might happen if earlier plans to phase-out nuclear power were carried out.

We are still at a high import level: almost 3 000 MW. Power is coming in from neighboring Nordic countries and Germany. But the colder it gets, the more is needed to warm our own population. Svenska Kraftnät sees little hope for imports in a severe situation, with only Denmark a likely supplier. It can be noted that imports are helped by the current economic downturn — in better times imports would have to be limited.

Svenska Kraftnät estimated last August that in a cold, once-in-a-decade winter, the effect would need to be just under 28 000 MW. We could get by if production were be at 90 percent of full capacity, power were imported, and the effect reserve were made available.

It was recently reported that wind power production had hit a new record, inputting more than 1 000 MW to the grid, but when it gets really cold, wind drops. Svenska Kraftnät reckons that wind power would provide only 6 percent of installed effect in a freak, once-in-a-decade winter. We need production that can deliver whatever the weather.

Statistics might show that over a year, Sweden has a good electric power balance, even able to export electricity, but there are periods when the effect is insufficient and imports are badly needed.

So we need a robust and cost-effective electricity system that can stand a Swedish winter, an electricity system that consumers can depend on and that improves Swedish competitive power. Confidence in energy policies is important for competitiveness, both for actual supply but also for full future access to competitively priced electricity.

Birgitta Resvik