Page 58 - European Energy Innovation - Winter 2016 publication

58 Winter 2016 European Energy Innovation
ENERGY TRANSITION
A successful energy transition can only
work with flexibility
By Thomas Speidel (pictured), CEO of ads-tec GmbH and President of the German Energy Storage
Apermanent balance
between generation
and demand is the
precondition for a stable energy from one place to another.
and reliable electricity grid. In the
past, the energy system consisting of
the three parts generation, transport
and consumption was acting in a very
predictable way. The fast roll-out of
renewable energy sources in a more
and more de-centralized system sets
some significant new challenges for
the system.
A lot of discussions in the last couple
years were always about whether we
need either storage or the grid to
facilitate the renewable infeed. The
answer is, that for a successful and
widely accepted energy transition we
will need both.
Association (BVES)
We need the grid – there is no doubt
about it - but grids can only do one
thing. They are only able to take
They are a one-trick pony.
In 2015, the cost for redispatch in
Germany came into the range of
one billion Euro already – and this
especially, because the grid isn´t apt
to bring the electricity to where it is
needed.
Energy storage can act like a
„Swiss armyknife“ that unfolds its
different tools depending on the
specific application and particular
requirements. All energy storage
technologies offer different services
and are the perfect enabler for
flexibility in every scenario – also cross- are e.g. the provision of control energy
sectoral.
Pumped hydro storage has been
integrated successfully in the energy
system for many decades and has
proven its relevance for system
stability.
Battery Storage Systems (BSS) are in
the current center of attention, because
they can combine many business
models. They react within milliseconds
and serve in many applications.
They are excellent for the provision
of control energy in large scale
applications, but also and especially in
residential areas for the optimization
of self-consumption. Through the
combination of photovoltaic (PV)
and a battery storage system also
households move their “private energy
transition” forwards and become more
independent from the rising electricity
price at the same time.
Currently there are around 45,000
storage systems installed in German
households. With around 1,6 million
PV systems on German roofs, the
retrofit potential is enormous and
by 2020 the number of residential
batteries is expected to grow to about
170,000. The constant growth of self-
consumption “behind-the-meter” sets
new challenges for the grid operators,
because not all systems act in a grid-
supportive manner. Furthermore it
implies a continuous and serious loss
in clients which is a big challenge for
many local utility companies.
To tackle this problem, mixed models
are in the current center of attention,
e.g. in swarms or quarter storage
projects. Besides the optimization of
self-consumption, other applications
or arbitrage businesses. Taking part in
several market segments allows higher
returns and thus a faster amortization.
In a quarter storage concept,
households do not even have to invest
in their own battery system, because
they only lease their required capacity
in the centrally located storage unit.
But also the grid operator profits
of those models by getting the
opportunity to control and monitor
the system. Additionally he can benefit
from grid supporting services provided
by the storage system/s. Furthermore,
also the regional utility company
benefits from such models that bring
new business cases and economic
value. Another very worthwhile fact
to mention in this context is electro-
mobility as bidirectional charging
(grid-to-vehicle or vehicle-to-grid)
brings another valuable effect for grid
flexibility. In Germany, the ambitious
aim is to pass the threshold of 1 million
electric vehicles in operation by 2020.
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