Earlier this autumn, Svenska kraftnät warned that there is a real risk that Swedish electricity users may have to be disconnected from the electricity grid during certain periods this winter.
This with the extended downtime at the Ringhals nuclear power plant, combined with supposed difficulties in importing electricity to the same extent as in previous winters.
But the reduced electricity consumption of Swedish households during the month of September now indicates a reduced risk of disconnection, according to Svenska kraftnät.
In total, household consumption decreased by 18 percent in September this year, compared to September last year.
"Direct impact"
- If consumption decreases, it has a direct impact on the risk of power shortages, i.e. the risk of customers being disconnected, says Erik Ek, strategic operations manager at Svenska kraftnät.
He adds that it also pushes the price down:
- If we had added this 18 percent, it would have been a much higher electricity price.
The further south you go, the greater the reduction.
In electricity area 4, where electricity prices were clearly the highest, the household reduction was 21 percent in September.
- The reduction is a direct consequence of a higher electricity price, says Erik Ek.
Increased the total
Overall, electricity consumption in Sweden decreased by 4.3 percent in September.
This when other users, mainly industry in the north, increased their consumption.
In electricity price range 4, total electricity consumption decreased by 7 percent.
- We see in our analyzes that if you were to reduce by only 2 percent as a whole in southern Sweden, the risk of having to disconnect electricity users will be approximately five times less, says Erik Ek.