The proportion of renewable energies in electrical consumption is supposed to increase from the current level of around 30% to 100%. However, the capacities of the networks are already bumping against their limits. Can the energy transition succeed?
Tobias Kurth: Large demands have arisen for infrastructure, networks, controllers, and flexibilities, which were previously provided by controllable power plants. Biomass as the single, controllable renewable energy appears to be limited; instead, solar and wind energy have dominated the field. The problem is that electrical production in the decentralized systems fluctuates with the weather. Therefore, in addition to new networks, technologies that provide flexibility, like batteries, are necessary both to store excess current and supply it as needed. In addition, the demand for electricity must become more flexible. Up until now, supply has followed demand. This becomes more difficult at increasing levels of fluctuating supplies.
What will the core features of the future energy market look like?
Kurth: It will have to be more decentralized, more complex, and digitally controllable. Large changes are coming: the expansion of renewables has led to a reduction in marginal costs in energy production, and thus to reduced electrical prices. Therefore, electricity will replace other primary energy sources in heating and transportation. Urbanization also raises questions: since increasing numbers of people live in cities, how do we link the increasing energy requirements of urban centers with decentralized power generation? Do we move generating units into the metropolis? or do they remain outside? If the latter, we desperately need new electrical lines. In any case, intelligent systems will be required to control the increasingly complex power flows. We will also need business modules that fit the new decentralized and digitized world.
Heiko Tautor: An additional complication to the conversion of the energy system: the demands of various regions differ extensively. In the north, the priority lies in expanding the network in order to transport the wind energy from the coastal regions to the centers of consumption. Cities, in contrast, are turning to photovoltaics, and CHPs are also gaining as heat generation units. On cold, clear days, the CHPs produce both the requisite heat and also electricity in conjunction with the PV systems. Where does one store all this power? Batteries offer one solution.