Wunsiedel Photo courtesy of Siemens

Munich, Germany - February 05, 2018

A look at Germany’s energy transition under real-life conditions: With an integrated, decentralized system, one municipal utility is laying the groundwork for a reliable, economically viable, and 100 percent renewable supply.

Marco Krasser doesn’t look like a revolutionary, and it’s a label that the managing director of the utility SWW Wunsiedel GmbH would probably reject.
Nevertheless, a minor revolution has taken place in this rural part of southern Germany, where innovative and adaptive ideas are being implemented at a rate that has attracted international attention.
It’s the micro economic manifestation of a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s energy system, and despite its size, the small town is a trailblazer when it comes to the distribution grid.

Photo courtesy of Siemens / Bernd Schumacher

Germany’s shift from large-scale, centralized power generation to a decentralized system geared towards the large-scale integration of renewable energy has been under way for many years now.
Utilities like SWW have been adapting their business models to the increasing infeed of wind and solar power since the late 1990s.
This development was accelerated in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, when the government decided to phase out all nuclear plants by the end of 2022. 

The pellet factory is an interface for sector coupling. “We use waste heat created by electricity generation from wood chips to store the energy in pellets,” explains Marco Krasser. Photo courtesy of Siemens / Bernd Schumacher

The EU’s internal energy market director as well as the Polish minister of the environment and his Japanese colleague are among the distinguished visitors to have signed the guestbook, and many more groups come almost daily to witness the future of what some have termed Germany’s energy turnaround.

“I don’t really like that term,” Krasser admits.
“We aren’t turning anything around at all, and we certainly aren’t turning back. We’re making a transition to a better future.”

At the House of Future Energy, Marco Krasser (right) explains to journalist Christopher Findlay how digitalization enables coupling of the heat, electricity, and mobility sectors. Photo courtesy of Siemens / Bernd Schumacher

A local energy blueprint

When Krasser joined SWW as an operating engineer in 1998, the deregulation of the German energy market had just begun.
It soon became clear that the utility would have to abandon its traditional business model – the straightforward commodity sale of electricity and gas – in favor of a more comprehensive approach in its mission to ensure a stable and economically viable energy supply to the public.
This was the first step on a unique path towards a sustainable energy future, tailored to local conditions.

Like Scrooge McDuck’s Money Bin: Marco Krasser and his hoard of pellets at the Holenbrunn biomass cogeneration plant. Photo courtesy of Siemens / Bernd Schumacher

The resulting municipal energy blueprint is the outcome of close coordination between the mayor’s office, the utility, and local businesses.
Over the following years, the first citizens’ energy cooperative was built, an 80-kilowatt solar power plant.
Soon, wind power and biomass were added to the portfolio.

The goal is to realize, by the year 2030, an efficient and resource-friendly energy strategy.
That means energy requirements for electricity, heating, and mobility will be fully met using biomass, solar, and wind power.
It also means intelligent coupling of these sectors.

Siemens Siestorage battery storage system Photo courtesy of Siemens

Siemens was selected as technology partner for this project, which has since gained more and more exposure.
In 2016, SWW won the German municipal utilities award for its innovative approach.


Explaining the future of energy

Wunsiedel and its environs in Upper Franconia are close to the former Iron Curtain that divided Europe until 1989.
Though the Cold War is a distant memory, the region remains economically disadvantaged, a situation accentuated by its relative isolation within the horseshoe-shaped massif of the Fichtel mountains.

Siemens Siestorage battery storage system Photo courtesy of Siemens

Krasser believes that this helped to foster initial acceptance of the new energy concept.
There were more vacant spaces for renewables, and despite some hesitations, people were generally more open towards change and new ideas, he says.
“It’s also worth noting that we made a very big effort to communicate with the public,” Krasser adds as we visit the House of Future Energy, an information and visitor center that displays models of the local distribution grid as well as real-time data for energy production, infeed, and loads in the SWW grid.

Siemens Siestorage battery storage system Photo courtesy of Siemens

If communication with the public is crucial, so is the digital exchange of information between the various infrastructure elements.

The town is linking all households to a Gigabit Ethernet fiber-optic network, with 20 percent of buildings already connected.
That is not only a locational advantage for businesses; with an integrated distribution network and high-speed data links, the vision of sector coupling to integrate heat, electricity, and mobility in a contiguous grid territory can become a reality.


A battery for self-sufficiency

How does this integration play out in practice?

We take a short drive to the Holenbrunn biomass cogeneration plant, which is operated by an SWW subsidiary.

Siemens Siestorage battery storage system Photo courtesy of Siemens

WUNBioenergie not only generates heat and electricity for its customers – by burning wood waste from the nearby forests and using the waste heat to power an ORC turbine – but also produces wood pellets with high energy density from waste-wood chips from the neighboring sawmill.
The company thus ensures a year-round supply that is both environmentally friendly and sustainable.

Siemens Siestorage battery storage system Photo courtesy of Siemens

Krasser opens a hatch and points to the belt dryer:
“This is an interface for sector coupling,” he explains.
“We use the waste heat from electricity generation to store it in the pellets.”

He points to the huge stockpiles of pellets being heaped up by bulldozers near the power plant.
“This is our gold,” Krasser shouts above the din, and just for a minute, the storage hall feels like the inside of Scrooge McDuck’s Money Bin.

Photo courtesy of Siemens

For Siemens, one important aspect was that its partner SWW was not only focused on innovation, but also had a clear vision for a suitable business model.

In close collaboration with Marco Krasser, Bernd Koch, Head of Distributed Energy Systems at Siemens Germany, and his team developed the corresponding ideas and models.

Photo courtesy of Siemens

In spring of 2018, a Siemens Siestorage battery storage system with a capacity of about 8.4 megawatts was commissioned on the plant site.

https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/products/energy/medium-voltage/solutions/siestorage.html  

It will not only allow SWW to manage the fluctuating infeed from local wind turbines and photovoltaic arrays better.

Photo courtesy of Siemens

The battery also opens up a new revenue stream.
With this storage solution, the utility meets the technical requirements for participation in the market for primary regulation energy, where it can earn fees by absorbing frequency fluctuations in the grid.
This income from grid stabilization will pay off the purchase cost of the battery – even when it comes to financing, SWW and Siemens are breaking new ground.

Photo courtesy of Siemens

There are further advantages to this model of a self-sufficient urban energy cell with battery storage as an active component, as Stephan May, CEO of the Siemens Business Unit Medium Voltage and Systems, explains:
“This allows us to absorb and release energy for a range of purposes, including maximizing security of supply and the ability to black-start the grid autonomously.”

It’s a model that may soon be followed in many other places.


The next steps

“In a future stage, we are considering a power-to-gas component by providing customers with CO2-free gas created through electrolysis,” says Bernd Koch.

Such a component might also see the systemic integration of an electrolyzer such as the Siemens Silyzer.

https://www.industry.siemens.com/topics/global/en/pem-electrolyzer/silyzer/Pages/silyzer.aspx  

By adding a power-to-liquid plant, it would be possible to process up to 1,000 tonnes of CO2 from a nearby glassworks into methanol annually.
In parallel, infrastructure solutions for electro mobility are to be developed.

Photo courtesy of Siemens

Krasser’s team also has lots of ideas for Wunsiedel’s path to the future of energy.

The SWW utility is part of GOFLEX, an EU project to develop new market models for absorbing renewable energy into the distribution grid.

http://www.goflex-community.eu/  

The concept of the “city as storage system” and the integration of block chain technology into local markets are further areas where Krasser hopes to have an impact:
“We want to show that our path is better – and together with Siemens, we will prove it.”

Christopher Findlay, independent journalist based in Zurich.


Source: Siemens AG

https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home.html  



ASTROMAN Magazine - 2018.01.17

Siemens Healthineers lays out strategy to bolster market leadership beyond 2025

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2420  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.06.09

Siemens Healthineers Debuts Symbia Intevo Bold SPECT/CT

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2273  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2017.05.12

Siemens implements further targeted efficiency improvements at individual businesses

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2245  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.12.30

Siemens employees can charge electric vehicles for free

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2174  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2016.02.03

Siemens sets new performance and efficiency world records at Düsseldorf power plant "Fortuna"

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=2018  


ASTROMAN magazine - 2015.07.26

Siemens Computed Tomography: 40 Years at the Cutting Edge of Technological Development

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1942  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2015.06.06

Siemens awarded record energy orders worth EUR 8 billion that will boost Egypt's power generation by 50%

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1926  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2014.11.10

Siemens to sell hearing aid business to EQT and Struengmann family for EUR 2.15 Billion

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1827  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.10.12

Consortium of Siemens and Polish manufacturer Newag running now Inspiro metro trains in Warsaw worth EUR 272 million

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1567  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.08.03

Joe Kaeser is the new President and Chief Executive Officer of Siemens AG

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1508  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2013.07.07

World's largest offshore wind farm with 175 Siemens wind turbines inaugurated

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1490  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.12.16

Siemens honors 12 inventors who are responsible for 734 individual patents

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1369  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.11.11

Siemens to Acquire LMS International for 680 Million Euro

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1348  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.09.22

Siemens opens urban development center - the Crystal - in London

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1318  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.06.21

Siemens: the Integration of Regenerative Energy and Electric Mobility

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1259  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.03.24

Siemens is acquiring the Connectors and Measurements Division of Expro Holdings UK for 470 million euros

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1210  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2012.02.19

Siemens strengthens its position in ocean power - Acquisition of Marine Current Turbines

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1180  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.12.29

High-Tech Hut Magic on Monte Rosa

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1134  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.12.03

Siemens publishes African Green City Index analyzing 15 major cities in 11 African countries

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1112  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.11.26

Siemens honors twelve inventors - R&D investments to increase by EUR 500 million

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1107  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.11.22

Siemens: Grand Opening of the Charlotte gas turbine manufacturing facility

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1106  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.10.17

Siemens puts solar farm in the south of France on line

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1079  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.09.25

Siemens brings renewables-based power to Mallorca

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1062  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.09.03

Siemens and Volvo Car Corporation launch electric mobility partnership

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1047  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.07.09

San Francisco leads the U.S. in environmental sustainability

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=1013  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.06.12

Siemens starts operating its first 6 megawatt wind turbine

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=993  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.05.15

Largest contract: Siemens is to build ICx for Deutsche Bahn

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=974  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.04.18

Siemens: the Train of Ideas on European tour as an environmental embassador

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=946  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.01.23

Siemens Healthcare unveils the world's first integrated whole-body molecular MR system available for clinical use

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=887  


ASTROMAN Magazine - 2011.01.02

Atos Origin and Siemens to create a European IT Champion

https://www.astroman.com.pl/index.php?mod=magazine&a=read&id=870