Germany puts forward ten suggestions for energy internet

China Energy Storage Network: The concept of energy internet has been proposed for a long time. Now, Germany will gradually turn it into reality. It has also put forward 10 suggestions on development route planning.

Germany will phase out nuclear power by 2022 and quickly switch to electricity supply based on renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar power. These renewable energy sources can only be integrated into the power system on a large scale with the help of IT and communication technologies (ICT).

The so-called smart grid is a combination of ICT technology, energy technology and sustainable supply technology to ensure continuous, reliable and cheap electricity.

At present, the existing power grid architecture is not suitable for carrying the injection of new energy with large fluctuations. Only when the infrastructure and energy storage system are upgraded can renewable energy be allowed to enter the power grid system on a large scale.

In order to make the power grid more flexible, information and communication technology (ICT) is indispensable in the future energy Internet. The "smart grid" formed by the integration of energy technology and information and communication technology can enable each individual component to communicate with each other and intelligently couple the power generation side and the power consumption side.

ICT is not only an important driver for the successful integration of renewable energy, but also can solve problems in the supply of sustainable energy. Therefore, smart grids can enhance Germany's overall energy efficiency.

Therefore, ICT not only enables the integration of renewable energy into the energy system, but is also an important driver of a sustainable energy supply that can be successfully integrated. The smart grid formed by this technology can help Germany use energy resources efficiently, thereby obtaining a long-term, continuous, reliable and cheap electricity supply.

By combining ICT to provide consumers with new smart applications, such as energy-saving automatic analysis of power consumption and control, consumers can get the most reasonable price. At the same time, it will also bring new market models and entrepreneurial opportunities to the value chain, providing new fertile ground for small energy producers and small innovative enterprises. These enterprises can maximize profits in the market through market innovation, smart services and regional renewable energy integration into the grid. End users can get cheaper electricity by selecting different network loads and electricity price packages, or by using cheap off-peak electricity.

Overall, Germany can give international competitive advantages to the development and export of sustainable smart grid technologies and establish itself as a leading supplier in this field.

The transformation of power infrastructure brings huge challenges in terms of politics, economy, technology and population. In addition, power will present a significant distributed structure in the future. The power in the future power grid will not only have a certain energy system from centralized power generation, but also have many distributed small power generation equipment, such as photovoltaic, wind farms, cogeneration, geothermal or biomass power into the system.

Consumers are increasingly becoming producers, owning and operating their own photovoltaic systems, rather than consuming electricity from large central power plants. The direction of power transmission from consumers to large producers will be bidirectional. In these "bidirectional" power transmission processes, the current power grid infrastructure needs to be adjusted. So how can we maintain power optimization and stable supply to consumers during the process of bidirectional injection of many distributed energy sources? How can the power grid ensure that there is always enough electricity and the power frequency remains stable? How will the excess electricity stored during periods of overproduction be allocated?

On the other hand, the emergence of new power consumption equipment will also have a huge impact on the existing power grid architecture. For example, electric vehicles: you need to provide electricity to electric vehicles, and on the other hand, they are also a huge distributed energy storage device. When the power grid generates excess undigested electricity or encounters peak electricity consumption, these energy storage devices will play a vital role in the system.

Therefore, the future smart energy system must connect consumers, producers, storage and network operators to each other. In the whole system, the measurement required for automated control and the communication and control costs between various components will increase.

In addition, ensuring the stability and sustainable operation of the power grid will also be a huge technical and economic challenge.

Power equipment and information and communication equipment will be greatly expanded, and the first challenge is the load capacity of the power grid. At the same time, the introduction of information and communication equipment also brings certain risks. Important infrastructure and virtual components must be ensured not to become new entrances for hackers and high-tech criminals. Since the smart grid is an infrastructure with security as the first key factor, the corresponding protection measures must be taken from the beginning of construction. The smart grid not only uses electricity, but also contains a large amount of data transmission and information. Therefore, data protection and information security are particularly important in the transformation of the energy system, and the access and use authority specifications of relevant data must also be followed up simultaneously.

Here are the top ten initiatives proposed by Acatech, the German Academy of Science and Engineering, for the construction of the future energy internet:

1. For the "smart grid of the future", a coordinated and targeted strategy must be developed, and a professional cross-disciplinary team must be deployed, which has representatives from business, science, government agencies and civil society institutions, such as non-governmental organizations.

2. A technology development roadmap must be systematically determined to establish a smart grid that can be implemented with real-time technology.

3. Establish special subjects, research institutes and think tanks at the national level. Their goal is to explore and understand the overall system.

4. Establish a scientific research center and information base of excellence to contribute to the professional development of the system.

5. Develop an appropriate legal framework. What we need is a new market order. This should include: market-based incentives for power generation, infrastructure investment regulations for energy storage technology, networks and information and communication technology. At the same time, further develop the legal framework for data protection.

6. Establishment of six demonstration regions for the E-Energy program in the test phase of the Federal Economic and Technological Union (BMWi) pilot region expansion. Within the pilot region, feasibility tests and analysis of technical issues and innovative concepts for the new market order will be carried out.

7. The implementation of the overall strategy and technology roadmap must be accompanied by the monitoring of the smart grid, including the federal government's "Future Energy Plan", which will be included in the monitoring process. The monitoring results are used by the federal government to regularly review various measures.

8. In cooperation with the European Network Transmission System Operator for Energy (ENTSO-E), unified grid technology standards must be developed between neighboring countries, as the grid is a cross-border domain in the EU. Among them, Germany should take a senior position as a leader in the transformation of renewable energy in the power system.

9. The public must participate in the transformation of the energy system. Open appropriate dialogue forums and conduct extensive exchanges with the public to promote the widespread establishment of new technologies and confidence in smart grids.

10. Retrain professionals according to the needs of smart grids. Especially cross-disciplinary professional training, such as IT technology training between energy technology and information and communication technology. Existing professional training, such as HVAC engineers and electricians, must be adjusted.

Original title: Future Grid - Injecting Energy into the Internet, Germany's Ten Suggestions