The Energietechnische Gesellschaft (ETG) in Germany's VDE electrical engineering association recently published a study in August, highlighting significant untapped potential within the current power grid to accelerate the integration of renewable energies. This study arrives amidst growing interest due to the increasing number of small-scale power generators, particularly balcony power plants. Despite this growth, the network expansion hasn't kept pace, resulting in periods where supply exceeds demand. In such situations, wind turbines are often turned off, and large photovoltaic and wind parks can't connect to the grid due to capacity constraints.

Existing Grid Capacity and Solutions

The ETG's study focuses on leveraging existing infrastructure, particularly those critical for electricity transmission, without compromising supply security. Identifying opportunities for a temporary increase in the load of grid components, they propose using these opportunities to remedy network bottlenecks. By understanding and strategically utilizing the physical load limits of materials, the study suggests that enhancements in cable, transformer, and transmission lines are possible. Specifically, cables can increase their current-carrying capability by up to 60%, transformers by up to 50%, and conductor cables can withstand up to 58% more stress if dynamic calculations on weather data and advanced cooling technologies are employed.

Challenges and Innovations

Despite the optimistic findings, the authors caution restraint and call for improvements in technical regulations, real-world application feasibility, and legal considerations. Excessive safety measures by manufacturers and operators could stifle innovation. Comprehensive guidelines encompassing the entire electricity transmission chain could reconcile existing standards and enable safer implementation of these load enhancements.

Demand-Side Flexibility and Avoiding Overproduction Shutdowns

The study also advocates for demand-side flexibility to balance insufficient power generation during periods of low solar and wind activity. One suggestion includes using electric vehicles as mobile storage units to relieve consumers financially in a dynamic system. Many current solutions, such as Redispatch 2.0, focus solely on electricity generation, although there are suggestions for remote load control by grid operators. For instance, the German Federal Network Agency is contemplating the ability to throttle electric vehicle charging to avoid network overloads.

Final Recommendations

Significantly, Maik Koch from Magdeburg-Stendal University and ETG task force leader, emphasizes that shutting down power generation facilities should always be a last resort. Instead, the focus should be on technical resolutions to achieve modern operational management, encouraging operators and planners to adopt these pragmatic solutions. This approach not only optimizes infrastructure efficiency but also contributes to substantial CO2 emission reductions, showcasing the dual benefit of technological and environmental advancements.

For further details, you can access the original article from heise.de.