The parliamentary group Freie Wahler and FÜR Karlsruhe put the city’s energy supply on the agenda of the municipal council. Although the German power supply is considered secure and the power grid is one of the best in Europe, the risk of temporary power outages is increasing. This can be attributed to the rapid increase in energy requirements:
Electricity consumption has been increasing not only since the corona crisis, in which many people switched to working from home. With the energy transition and digitization, there is a risk of overloading the power grid: “If the whole city opens their laptops, turns on the television and charges the battery of the electric car, this can lead to new peak loads. At the same time, the coal-fired power plants are being shut down and we are striving for more and more electricity from renewable sources – that’s good and we welcome that. But can we assure our fellow citizens that they will get electricity when they need it?” asks City Councilor Friedemann Kalmbach.
But where does the electricity come from when new peak loads are reached and the wind isn’t blowing? How high will the share of energy from the European power grid be, such as nuclear power from France? Can the demand for electricity be covered in the long term with the good, ambitious climate protection plans that we have set ourselves? According to the parliamentary group, if electricity is suddenly purchased from non-regenerative power plants abroad, nothing is gained for the environmental protection goal.
The inquiry from the independent group is intended to provide clarification. City Councilor Petra Lorenz warns: “In order to be able to clarify the open questions, it is important that the facts and figures are on the table! We want to know if and how often power cuts occur, who is affected and whether we are able to handle new peak loads. A first step has been taken with this request.”
