There is a lot to be read about “smart homes” and the city of tomorrow – but the energy transition is taking place in the countryside: that’s where most of the renewable energy systems are, and that’s where the distribution grids have to become “intelligent”.
As part of the “Smart Country” initiative of the Internet & Society Collaboratory eV, a group of experts has examined what the intelligent energy future looks like in rural areas, what its key factors are, and where there are already good approaches. We present the results in this series.
Many smaller municipalities in rural areas did not have their own energy supply capacities for a long time. In the course of the energy transition – in particular, the support provided by the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) – countless communities and their citizens have invested in renewable generation systems: the majority of wind, solar, and biogas systems are located in the countryside. However, no competencies for the control and marketing of these systems were usually developed there, because the guaranteed purchase and fixed remuneration of the EEG did not make this appear necessary.
This time is coming to an end: Subsidy rates are falling, renewable energies have to assert themselves more strongly on the market and future-proof management of the power grids requires more active control. While wind farms and the like have often primarily been investments up to now, it is now important to see them more as a portfolio that needs to be managed. As far as the planning and operation of the plants are concerned, this means optimizing the cost structure and creating the technical prerequisites for opening up new markets.
Fuels Use local resources and combined heat and power
Plants that use biogenic fuels should be designed to use local resources as completely as possible, the availability of which is secured in the long term and the cost level is so low that operation is economical even without funding. Biogas plants in particular are suffering from rising substrate costs because the market for organic waste is becoming tighter and the use of energy crops is politically increasingly undesirable. Wood combustion is also exposed to market risks. It is therefore advisable to conclude long-term supply contracts for agricultural and forestry waste products that occur on-site as early as the planning stage.
Wherever energy is generated by burning raw materials, both climate protection and efficiency suggest the use of combined heat and power generation. Such systems should be able to switch flexibly and remotely between electricity and heart-led operation in order to be able to react to the current demand. With the appropriate technology, such as hot water tanks, excess electricity can be converted into heat and this is stored for some time – with existing heat consumers an increasingly attractive alternative to selling electricity at low exchange prices. The location is decisive for the planning of combined heat and power plants: Here, the immediate proximity to customers who are reliable around the year-round must be sought in order to make a local heating network profitable. Examples are manufacturing companies that need process heat, hospitals, swimming pools, or shopping centers.
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