Our energy systems are undergoing profound change for multiple reasons, of which climate change is just one. The trend is to electrify everything, also called sector coupling, to gain efficiencies and decarbonise energy consumption. To achieve this, our physical power grids need to change, especially their network topology. The end result could look more akin to an internet of energy than traditional supply grids.

The conventional electricity grid in Germany was geared towards a manageable number of large power plants and connected the electricity producers with the biggest consumers. It was no coincidence that the second largest electricity consumer after Deutsche Bahn, Dow’s Stade plant, was located directly next to a nuclear power plant – which was shut down in 2003.

With the rise of renewables, electricity production has been decentralised, but not evenly distributed. What’s more, there are now significant regional gaps between production and consumption. In the past, energy-intensive industries closely followed energy. The Ruhr and Saar coalfields were industrial centres. Today, Schleswig-Holstein has more wind power than the state can consume.

However, the grid that could transport this surplus to the industrial centres in the West and South with their energy requirements does not exist. Or, at least, it doesn’t yet. If only we could store the surplus electricity so that we could use it in times of need. But wait, we can. Solutions include batteries, which are getting cheaper and better, and electrolysers to produce green hydrogen for sectors that can’t be easily electrified.

A grid like the internet

Like the production of renewables, these storage solutions are decentralised. The future energy grid will therefore be more like the internet than conventional grids. And it’s not only about electricity: we’ll have hydrogen and heat networks as well.

Denmark is a good example here. Instead of building gas networks, the country came up with heat networks very early on. Today, nearly two-thirds of the Danish households are supplied with district heating. This is more centralised than a gas burner in every house, but less than a bunch of big power plants powered by gas, coal, or nuclear.

The future degree of decentralisation is still largely open. It depends on various parameters:

• Will the large electricity consumers follow the supply, and if so, how quickly?
• How will price signals be set in the future?
• Will there remain a single electricity price zone for the whole of Germany or will the country be divided into several price zones according to the distribution of supply and demand and the network topology?
• How smart will the future grid be?

The smart part is where things get interesting. If we can better manage supply and demand, we can move electricity consumption to times when supply is plenty, avoiding bottlenecks. For example, the electrification of heating opens up a large possible energy storage pool: the buildings themselves. We simply heat buildings by one or two degrees more than necessary as soon as electricity is abundant. In times of reduced supply, they can then cool down without any loss of comfort and still don’t have to be heated.

Energy prosumers

For this to work, the heat pumps need to know about supply and demand. Or, at least, they need to get an on/off signal from the grid. Oftentimes, this is a local phenomenon. When everyone comes home, plugs in their electric car and switches on the cooker, heat pumps should pause. And the car should postpone charging to later hours. Although these are usage patterns, they may already be different in the neighbouring street.

Thus, the demand for decentralised smartness in the grid will be high – hence the internet of energy. The basic concepts have been around for decades. Today, we also have the technology. What’s still lacking is the implementation. The situation is further complicated by the fact that consumers increasingly become energy producers as well, or prosumers.

A solar system on the roof supplies the house to a certain extent and feeds the rest into the grid. It often also has a storage unit. The electric car comes with a battery that could supply the house for days on end – as soon as this is technically and regulatory possible. Again, a question of implementation. How can we integrate all this, not forgetting the heat pump, best into the grid?

Overshadowed by the structures of the past

This is where startups like unify.energy come into play. Founded by Arash Aazami, who will speak at NEXT24 in September, the company develops the latest generation of intelligent energy systems, aimed at local balancing and energy independence. Their vision is to build

an open-source exchange of 100% renewable energy designed for empowerment of the user, for energy liberty. And to achieve this we make use of a multitude of solutions already developed all over the world. What we do is connect them to one another, connect them to the user, and connect users to other users, developing thriving energy communities. Together we make a new reality where we all together are more than the sum of our parts. 

This echoes what we said before: we have the technology we need. Now it’s about the implementation, the networks, the smart grids. Physically and technologically, today’s networks are still overshadowed by the structures of the past. As natural monopolies, they are regulated (and need to be). Regulation has its pros and cons here. Whilst we can’t go into detail on the subject, we should at least recognise that networks not only need to get bigger, but also smarter to keep pace with change. The internet can be a model for future energy networks.

Picture by Antonio Garcia | Unsplash.