Grid usage

In accordance with the Electricity Supply Act (StromVG), the national grid company Swissgrid is responsible for the non-discriminatory, reliable and efficient operation of the transmission system in Switzerland. This is an essential requirement for security of electricity supply in Switzerland. To enable the necessary balance to be maintained between electricity consumption and electricity production and to guarantee the security of the Swiss transmission system, swissgrid is also responsible for the procurement of ancillary services.

Costs are incurred for this. These are charged in accordance with the applicable legislation. There are also other costs that are set out in the Electricity Supply Act (StromVG) and the Electricity Supply Ordinance (StromVV). These costs are charged in the form of tariffs and on-account billing rates defined by Swissgrid according to legal requirements. Swissgrid submits the cost calculation on which these tariffs are based to the Federal Electricity Commission ElCom on an annual basis in accordance with the requirements of the Electricity Supply Act.

To cover the costs arising from cost-covering feed-in remuneration (CRF), each year the Swiss Federal Office of Energy defines the surcharge on the transmission costs of the high-voltage grids in advance. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) defined a surcharge of 0.45 Rp./kWh for 2009, and on 24 August 2009 it decided that the surcharge for 2010 will remain at 0.45 Rp./kWh.

Factsheet: Grid Usage (PDF / 1.13MB)

FAQ

  

Tariffs (Status: 20 July 2009)

In its ruling of 6 March 2009, ElCom stipulated the operational tariff, the output tariff and the basic tariff for grid usage in the transmission system for 2009. In addition, an on-account billing rate for allocating the costs of ancillary services to power plants with a minimum electricity output of 50 MW was also stipulated. The ruling was contested by various parties involved and is not yet legally in force. However, the decreed tariffs do apply provisionally due to the lifting of the temporary suspension.

On 19 May 2009, Swissgrid published the grid usage and ancillary service (AS) tariffs for the Swiss transmission system for 2010. The grid usage tariffs worked out 17% higher than those for the current year. There are several reasons for this increase:

• Higher cost declarations from transmission system owners
• The inclusion of control panels, which, in accordance with the Electricity Supply Ordinance (StromVV), will become part of the transmission system for the first time from 1 January 2010.

In May 2009, ElCom resolved to launch an official investigation into transmission system usage tariffs. In view of the tariff calculations and publications due to take effect at the end of August, ElCom has already conducted a summary review of the 2010 grid usage tariffs published by swissgrid and has lowered some of the tariffs as a precautionary measure.

ElCom also ruled that Swissgrid must publish the 2010 on-account billing rate for general ancillary services. This must be done by 31 July 2009. So Swissgrid has now published the relevant on-account billing rate, which was originally intended for publication in the 4th quarter of 2009.

Any discrepancies between the costs for general ancillary services and the projected costs will be debited from or credited to the power plants. There will be no transfer of costs to the following year.

For the tariff years 2009 and 2010, the following table shows

• the grid usage tariffs for grid level 1,
• the AS on-account billing rate for power plants with a minimum of 50 MW,
• all other tariffs.

Rulings by ElCom

	2009 (in acc. with ElCom ruling of 6 March 2009)	2010 (provisional, in acc. with ElCom ruling of 9 July 2009)
Grid usage
Operational tariff	0.16 Rp/kWh	0.18 Rp/kWh
Output tariff	CHF 23,610/MW	CHF 26,180/MW
Fixed basic tariff per weighted feed-out point	CHF 232,000/a	CHF 254,620/feed-out point p.a.
Ancillary services
General AS tariff for grid operators and end consumers connected to the transmission system	0.40 Rp./kWh	0.40 Rp./kWh
General AS on-account billing rate for power plants with a minimum of 50 MW	0.45 Rp./kWh	0.45 Rp./kWh
Individual AS tariff for active power losses	0.25 Rp./kWh	0.30 Rp./kWh
Individual AS tariff for reactive energy (from 1 January 2010)		6.47 CHF/Mvarh
Remuneration for power plants for reactive energy supplied according to requirements
Reactive energy tariff	CHF 3.50/Mvarh	CHF 3.50/Mvarh
Balance Group Management
Registration tariff for standard balance group	EUR 6,250	EUR 6,250
Registration tariff for control balance group in addition to standard balance group	EUR 3,500	EUR 3,500
Registration tariff for CH-15 balance group in addition to standard balance group	EUR 3,500	EUR 3,500
Clearing tariff	EUR 0	EUR 0

(Net tariffs, excl. VAT)

 Tariffs and AS on-account billing rate: grid level 1 for 2009 and 2010 (PDF / 57kB)

 

Information and contacts

For questions relating to the tariffs, please contact the Swissgrid Customer and Information Centre or use our contact form.

Questions and Answers

 

 

The following graphics show a breakdown of the electricity price and how much goes to Swissgrid.

Swissgrid’s share averages 10 percent of the electricity price paid by the consumer.

Graphic: Average share of the electricity price (PDF / 230kB)

 

 

Graphic: Chargeable costs from the Swiss transmission system (PDF / 110kB)

 

 

Invoice components:

All grid operators and end consumers directly connected to the transmission system:
Swissgrid charges all grid operators and end consumers directly connected to the transmission system for general ancillary services. These costs correspond to the general AS tariff for grid operators and end consumers connected to the transmission system. Swissgrid also levies a CRF surcharge on the transmission costs for the high-voltage grids in accordance with the Electricity Supply Ordinance.

Grid operators connected to the transmission system and end consumers directly connected to the transmission system
Grid operators directly connected to the transmission system and end consumers directly connected to the transmission system:
In addition to the costs for general ancillary services, swissgrid charges grid operators directly connected to the transmission system and directly connected end consumers on a user-pays basis for the costs of compensation of active power losses and, from 1 January 2010, also the costs for reactive energy (individual ancillary services).

Swissgrid also charges the abovementioned grid operators and end consumers for the remaining billable costs, taxes and contributions to local authorities in a non-discriminatory manner and at a uniform tariff applicable to the Swiss control area in accordance with the Electricity Supply Ordinance. This is done in the form of grid usage tariffs with an operational tariff, an output tariff and a fixed basic tariff per weighted feed-out point. The resulting grid usage charge (GUC) is calculated from these tariffs.

Power plants with a minimum output of 50 MW
According to Art. 31b Para. 2 of the Electricity Supply Ordinance, Swissgrid charges power plants with a minimum output of 50 MW for the costs of the general ancillary services that exceed 0.40 Rp./kWh. The charge is based on their share of gross energy production.

According to Art. 31b Para. 1 of the Electricity Supply Ordinance, swissgrid charges power plants with an output of ≥ 50 MW for the costs of general ancillary services that exceed 0.40 Rp./kWh, based on their share of gross energy production. ElCom decreed a billing rate of 0.45 Rp./kWh for on-account billing.

In practice, however, this billing rate of 0.45 Rp./kWh was not always sufficient to cover the costs. This meant that Swissgrid was largely forced to pre-finance the costs for the procurement of ancillary services. The resulting interest costs were considerable and increased the overall costs. In order to reduce the amount that Swissgrid has to pre-finance, Swissgrid introduced an additional on-account billing rate retroactively on 24 April 2009 (in addition to the aforementioned 0.45 Rp./kWh).

As a result, the revenues from monthly on-account billing more closely approximated the actual expenditure on AS procurement. Monthly on-account invoices have therefore been based since then on a fixed basic billing rate of 0.45 Rp./kWh plus a variable additional billing rate. This may fluctuate from month to month in line with the residual AS costs that arise.

After the end of the calendar year, the annual statement will be prepared on the basis of the actual costs for AS procurement and the effective gross energy production of the power plants concerned. Before invoices can be issued, however, ElCom’s consent must first be obtained regarding the AS costs calculated by Swissgrid. Every effort will be made to produce the annual statement by no later than the end of March of the following year.

Swissgrid is making every effort to keep the costs for AS procurement as low as possible. However, Swissgrid is dependent on a functioning market in order to do so. As part of the market-based procurement of ancillary services, a variety of measures have been devised and implemented in order to reduce costs. The process will be continuously developed and improved with a view to tapping further cost-cutting potential.

For 2010, Swissgrid has calculated and communicated an on-account billing rate for the billing of residual AS costs to power plants with a minimum electricity output of 50 MW. However, it should be noted that this is just an estimate, which at best will be achieved in retrospect as an average value over the course of the year.

Balance groups
Swissgrid bills balance groups a one-off tariff upon registration. The previously levied clearing tariff has been set to zero since 1 January 2009.