The shutdown of several local production facilities has led to electricity production in southern Sweden sometimes not being enough to meet the demand there. This means that the electricity supply is dependent on imports from other electricity areas, which in turn places demands on the capacity of the power grids.
Last June, Medelius-Bredhe stated that Sweden was in great need of imports during hours with particularly high load. At the same time, she warned that the situation risks becoming worse.
From Svenska kraftnät's side, they have now taken action on the issue and "secured Skåne", according to Medelius-Bredhe.
Svenska kraftnät has expanded the capacity of the transmission grid to Skåne so that it can deliver more electricity than what is demanded and consumed in Skåne, primarily in the Malmö area.
Ongoing limitations
However, Medelius-Bredhe believes that there are still limitations in the regional grid that supplies electricity to customers. She also points to late applications – from industries that want to connect to the grid – as a problem.
We have acted on the requests we have received from the regional grid, which Eon is responsible for in this case. I have facts on that because I see when the applications come in to us. If Eon does not have knowledge of the companies' plans, how can they then ask us for capacity?
According to Martin Höhler, CEO of Eon energy distribution, there are concrete plans for expanding the regional grid.
Svenska kraftnät has already worked intensively to meet the demand we have in the region. Now we must expand the regional grid at the same pace, he says.
Joint plan
On Friday, representatives from Svenska kraftnät, Eon, the County Administrative Board of Skåne, and Region Skåne met to discuss how to meet future challenges.
Anna Jähnke (M), chair of the regional development board, says that they still need to increase network capacity, but that there is now a concrete plan, also for how to address challenges after 2034.
Being able to have good and stable connectivity is the foundation for running businesses. That's why it's so good and important that we have all signed on to how the picture looks, and that we can take the next step and expand the power grids and offer the capacity that companies need.
