Questions and answers about transforming the energy system

Research

1. In view of the phasing out of nuclear power in 2022, how much additional money will have to flow into research on renewable energies and energy efficiency in future?

   In the past the German government has devoted funding to research and development work. Under the 6th Energy Research Programme adopted on 3 August 2011 it is considerably expanding this support. Some EUR 3.5 billion is available for the funding of research and development work on modern energy technologies in 2011 to 2014, of which about EUR 1.3 billion is earmarked for renewable energy. This means a substantial increase in funding for innovative, environmentally sound technologies - by 75 percent compared with the last four years.The German government's 6th Energy Research Programme is systematically geared to the two key areas of renewable energy and energy efficiency. It also focuses on technologies that are crucial to the transformation of the energy system to consist predominantly of renewable energy, such as energy grids and storage facilities. To this end the German government is providing up to EUR 200 million under the interministerial "Promoting Energy Storage Facilities Initiative". Modern energy storage options are indispensable, in particular because power from wind and solar plants is not necessarily needed at the times when it is generated. A further interministerial support initiative for grids is also planned. Further funding is being granted by the German government to research on wind energy, photovoltaic power generation and bioenergy, for example. The German government is doubling research expenditure on electric cars to EUR 1 billion for the years 2011 to 2013 in order to advance a technological breakthrough.

2. Why is it necessary to invest so much money in energy research?

   To keep Germany at the forefront of those economies that make most efficient use of energy, we need continuous technological innovation. It is only by this means that we can make a success of the restructuring process to a sustainable energy supply system based largely on renewable energy and exploit the potential it offers for growth and employment. Research gives rise to many new findings that have a great impact on energy supply. For example, applied research into wind turbines has helped new systems to produce much more electricity than older systems. In the field of nanotechnology (research into molecular-scale structures) research workers are developing new material structures that promise a breakthrough in the development of new batteries combining performance with very light weight.

3. Who is to receive assistance for the development of new energy storage facilities? What are the selection criteria?

   With its Promoting Energy Storage Facilities Initiative, the German government is supporting research projects aimed at developing storage technologies for power, heat and other forms of energy. In the next few years, EUR 200m will be available under this initiative. The funding regulations set out detailed criteria that will have to be satisfied by any research, above all into stationary energy storage. Support will be available for industry-led consortium projects and projects conducted by universities and research institutions. The funding criteria include, above all, the academic excellence of the research project and its relevance to the goals of funding policy. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research are responsible for deciding on applications for funding.

4. Are concrete deadlines being set for the market introduction of storage technologies?

   The bigger the role played by renewable energies, the more important storage facilities will become. Despite the expansion of renewable energies in Germany, there is no appreciable need for energy storage facilities in the short term, though there certainly is in the long term. However, fundamental research is still ongoing on many storage technologies, while others are still under development. The German government's approach therefore places the initial focus on research, development and demonstration projects. Last year the German government therefore set in motion an interministerial storage initiative with a total volume of EUR 200 million. The German government expects its research funding to impart important stimuli. However, technological breakthroughs cannot be delivered to order. Nevertheless, the German government is making every effort to create the best possible conditions for the research and business communities in Germany.

5. Will Germany be able to rely mainly on German know-how as it implements new energy concepts, or will we have to resort to resources (materials, research, experts and workers) from abroad?

   German enterprises and technologies will be the backbone of the new energy concepts. This does not rule out the possibility that individual projects or schemes may be carried out with foreign participation. Today, Germany is already a lead market for renewable energy technologies. Thanks to massive investment in research and education, its universities and non-university institutions are among the best in the world. This is true with regard to both fundamental and applied research. For example, the member institutes of the Renewable Energy Research Association (Forschungsverbund Erneuerbare Energien - FVEE) are conducting research into and developing technologies for renewable energies and their integration in energy systems (e.g. energy storage facilities and smart grids). Other important actors include the Energy Research Alliance of the Fraunhofer Association and the Helmholtz Association's energy research centres at Jülich and Karlsruhe, and also university research facilities, especially at the nine top universities. International cooperation is particularly necessary on major projects like Desertec (solar energy from the Sahara).

6. Why is research into energy storage necessary?

   If we primarily obtain our power from renewable energies, energy storage will become increasingly important in the long term. This is because wind and sunlight, in particular, are not always available at the moment when a great deal of power is needed. Pumped-storage plants are one good option. However, they require large amounts of space, as they involve creating artificial lakes on elevated sites. And this space is not available everywhere. Alternatives - such as conversion to hydrogen or methane (power-to-gas), batteries, underground compressed air energy storage facilities - are hardly being used as yet, especially because their costs are too high. Apart from this, they may also give rise to ecological problems. In consequence, it is necessary to carry on doing intensive research into these technologies. In particular, there is a need for research aimed at improving efficiency and reducing costs, e.g. in the further development of electrolysis for fluctuating operations, or upscaling redox-flow batteries. Demonstration projects are also needed for practical testing and further development of the technologies, e.g. for adapting them to the fluctuating quantities of renewable energy generated, or to test how storage facilities and renewable energies can together guarantee secure supplies without the use of conventional power plants.

7. There is nothing new about sending power along cables, so why does research have to be conducted in this field?

   It will not be enough to erect more power pylons - especially because there are limits to what can be achieved in this way. Research is therefore being done into "smart grids", i.e. power grids that transport energy more flexibly and efficiently. The existing energy system, in which energy flows only in one direction, namely from power plant to consumer, is undergoing substantial changes. The increase in decentralised renewable energy systems in the distribution network is increasingly giving rise to bidirectional energy flows, i.e. the lines are used in both directions. Unlike the situation in the past, a large number of electricity producers and the consumers are relatively close together in geographical terms, but production and consumption may not coincide. As a result, the distribution networks will increasingly be faced with the problem that more energy is being fed in than is being consumed at that time. Thus what have previously been straight distribution networks will at times become feed-in grids, and that may also include higher-level grids. As a rule, present-day distribution networks are not designed for this. To ensure that the quality of the supply system is maintained, the distribution networks must be developed from their present passive role into flexible and active networks. Another problem lies in transporting power over great distances, e.g. from the North Sea to southern Germany, or even in the long term beyond the borders of Europe, e.g. from the sunny Sahara to the consumer centres of Central Europe. The losses from normal high-voltage transmission lines using alternating current would be much too high, so there is a need for research into efficient transport of direct current and into ways of integrating individual direct current power lines in the existing European alternating current grid.

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