How Italy helped Germany lower energy prices? European grid interconnections provide stability and flexibility
Italy has increased electricity exports to help Germany, which is facing a supply shortage at home. This phenomenon underlines the importance of an interconnected grid, which provides flexibility and stability in the energy system.
Energy prices have risen sharply in Central European countries, especially Germany. This has resulted in high flows of electricity exports from Italy to neighboring countries, an unusual event for Rome, which has historically been an importer of electricity.
This phenomenon most recently occurred on January 20, but also earlier in December of last year, when conditions of supply shortage were created in Central Europe and especially in Germany, a historically electricity exporting country.
But what caused the price increase? The German energy system was hit by a sudden drop in renewable generation due to low winds and cloudy weather. On December 11 and 12, German wind and solar production fell below 2,000 megawatts, while in the previous days, the same sources had contributed over 30,000 megawatts to cover German demand. Also on January 20, hours with wind production below 2,000 MW were observed, compared to a peak of over 45,000 MW in the first week of the month.
An unusual situation, which Germany has managed to address by taking advantage of the availability of the interconnected European network and the consolidated integration of markets. In this way, Italian producers have also increased their generation to contribute to meeting the needs in Germany. For the first time, Italian electricity exports exceeded 4 thousand MW in December, while Germany imported around 13,600 MW at the same time. Then, on January 20, Italian exports were again set at values close to 4000 MW while Germany imported 11,800 MW.
The aid offered by Italy to Germany confirms the key role of interconnections as a strategic infrastructure that allows not only the import of energy at affordable prices from neighboring countries, but also constitutes a fundamental flexibility instrument. According to a recent report, Italy's electricity exports could increase sixfold by 2030, from 3 terawatt hours (TWh) to 19 TWh.
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