Carbon-neutral electricity is the main challenge since it will be the primary future energy carrier for heating, transportation and other energy needs. Soon fossil fuel-based power plants will be substituted by renewables such as wind and solar. Thus, new storage solutions – activated by the smart grids and enabled by linkages with the heat or mobility sectors – will become central flexibility assets.
However, their direct participation in balancing competes with other, centralised flexibility solutions such as hydroelectric dams that are facilitated by existing market designs and the long-lasting international cooperation among the Nordic countries.
Recent studies have demonstrated that decentralised and cross-sector storage is hindered by regulatory barriers and distorted price signals. Implementing enabling frameworks would create room for new business models to develop that would capture the added value of new types of storage to complement current flexibility solutions in future decarbonised mixes.
The webinar will discuss some of the opportunities and challenges of balancing energy and power in a larger perspective and in some local perspectives in the Nordic countries. Short presentations will give inspiration on the subject before opening the panel debate with Nordic energy experts.
Presentations
- Analysis of new low-carbon scenarios for the Nordic-Baltic energy region carried out as part of the Flex4RES project. Storage and flexibility services as a means of accelerating the green transition are part of this presentation.
– Claire Bergaentzlé, Postdoc, and Simon Bolwig, Senior Researcher, DTU Management, Technical University of Denmark – DTU - Measures to reach a stable carbon-neutral electricity supply. There are only 10 years to complete the full transition of the electric supply and this requires new measures. For stability and security of supply, some of the primary flexibility assets may be interconnectors, large scale storage, cross-sector storage, seasonal storage and more.
– Anders Bavnhøj Hansen, Chief Engineer at Energinet. Energinet is Denmark’s TSO, i.e. the enterprise responsible for the operation of the transmission grid and the electricity system. - Electric storage to help balance energy and power from the sub-second level to a day-to-day scale. Electric equipment and storage can help provide both balancing flexibility and grid services to the future electric grid. Based on years of R&D focus on flexibility and efficiency supplemented with dedicated lab testing at the Danish Technological Institute DTI.
– Kjeld Nørregaard, Senior Project Manager at the Danish Technological Institute – DTI.
Panel debate
The debate will wrap up the webinar focusing on Denmark and the Nordic-Baltic energy region and possibilities for decarbonizing their energy systems, focusing on the following themes:
- Will increased power transmission and international smart energy/grid cooperation bring sufficient flexibility? Or will a mix of local and national storage solutions be needed?
- The Corona crisis closed many national borders to people – could a future energy crisis cause closing of energy borders? Could this give rise to reconsider the heavy reliance on international trade in electricity as a flexibility mechanism and favor local storage and generation?
- What should be the prioritized next steps? Are there barriers and technology that needs upgrading to match the climate goals?
Moderator: Poul Erik Morthorst | DTU and Danish Council on Climate Change
– The perspective of the Danish Council on Climate Change (short introduction)
Panel participants:
- Klaus Skytte | CEO Nordic Energy Research – The perspective of Nordic-Baltic energy cooperation (short introduction)
- Anders Bavnhøj Hansen | Chief Engineer at Energinet
- Simon Bolwig | Technical University of Denmark
- Claire Bergaentzlé | Technical University of Denmark
- Kjeld Nørregaard | Danish Technological Institute
- Helle Juhler-Verdoner | Managing Director of the Intelligent Energy Alliance – the EU strategy on Energy Sector Integration in a Nordic perspective
The webinar is organised under the Action Network (ISGAN) Annex 7 – Smart Grid Transitions, with support from EUPD – a programme under the Danish Energy Agency.
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