Due to the geographical imbalance of production and consumption of electricity in Germany and the time delay in extending and strengthening the electricity network, the grid is congested on a regular basis. To solve the bottlenecks, the transmission system operators interfere in the market and reduce conventional and, more recently, renewable production in northern Germany while increasing reserved capacity production in southern Germany and Austria. In recent years, the curtailed energy amounts and the related costs increased tremendously. In 2016, 6.3 TWh of conventional energy and 3.7 TWh of renewable energy were curtailed, leading to estimated costs of 400 million Euros (BNetzA 2017). A substantial part of the curtailments takes place in northeastern Germany. The increasing amount of curtailed energy and the costs of congestion management lead us to the question whether it is more efficient to solve bottlenecks by using alternative flexibility options instead of curtailing RES (EnSys et al. 2017). To answer this question, a wider understanding of the reasons for curtailments is crucial. In a first step, this study identifies the main drivers for curtailments and quantifies their influence. For grid operators and other market actors, such as direct marketers and alternative flexibility providers, knowledge about the reasons for curtailment is necessary in order to prevent or react to grid congestion.
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