The network – the underestimated factor

To ensure that there is sufficient electricity available at any given time, the corresponding volume of electrical energy must be produced. Therefore, the great significance of power stations to ensuring a reliable supply is self-evident and easy for any person to grasp.

However, it is often forgotten that there is more to this than simply the actual generation. The importance of the networks that ensure the transport of the electricity from the producer to the consumer is underestimated.

Breaks in the network can result in power failures, even if the requisite production capacity is available at the power stations. A well-structured and maintained network, in which electricity can be fed from different sides if necessary, is key to ensuring a highly secure supply.

Consequently, it would be advisable to place time limits on the processes for developing line projects to prevent delays of years or even decades arising when they are carried out. The Swiss low and medium-voltage network is around 250 000 km long, which means that it could stretch around the world six times. While 80 percent of the lines in these networks are laid underground, the 380/220 kV high to extra-high voltage network (approx. 6700 km) is made up almost exclusively of overhead power lines (approx. 99 percent).

An electricity grid is expensive to build and maintain. 1 km of 380/220 kV high to extra-high voltage overhead power line costs around 1.5 million francs, on average. The costs of underground lines are about six to ten times higher.

The costs of the entire 0.4 to 380 kV network account for between 40 and 70 percent of the total price of electricity, depending on the topography of the area being supplied. Therefore, it is expensive to distribute the electricity; in fact, this costs considerably more than the actual energy. The breakdown of the price of electricity has had to be set out clearly on electricity bills since the start of 2009.