Under 10 cents per kilowatt hour for "green base load"?

• 50Hertz, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) and Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems IEG develop concept on green base load for industrial companies.
• 50Hertz CEO Stefan Kapferer: "Renewable energies are a growth engine for eastern Germany as a business location. We are developing sustainable concepts for energy transition and growth with industry partners."
• Based on the findings from the "green base load" concept and the analysis of flexibility potentials in industry, 50Hertz and scientists are developing new research project combining both facets

The transformation towards climate neutrality poses enormous challenges for industry in Germany. A power supply based entirely on renewable energies plays a central role in this. So far, however, there are hardly any concepts on how industrial companies will succeed in being supplied competitively with climate-neutral electricity around the clock. On behalf of 50Hertz, the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg and the Fraunhofer IEG therefore prepared a study on the green
base load for industry. The aim of the study was to develop a concept for an energy-intensive industrial company that includes a 24/7 real-time supply of renewable electricity and that can be implemented well before 2030. One result of the study: 7.6 MW of renewable power is needed to provide one megawatt of green base load. Photovoltaics account for the largest share of this. The concept developed in the study envisages the use of various technological components. In addition to renewable annexes and grid connection, these are primarily short-term storage (e.g., Li-ion battery) and long-term storage (e.g., electrolysis, hydrogen storage, and plants for reverse power generation). Another stipulation for the concept was that the cost of electricity supply should ideally not exceed 10 cents/KWh. The analyses show that the price of a kilowatt-hour of electricity would currently be less than 10 cents for 90 percent carbon_neutrality and 13.5 cents for full carbon neutrality.

"A climate-neutral and cost-effective power supply is already a decisive location factor for industry. The good news for northeastern Germany is that the further increase in the share of renewable energies can become a real growth engine for the region. At 50Hertz, we are aware of our responsibility in integrating renewables into the grid infrastructure and in connecting new industrial consumers quickly. As a transmission system operator, we therefore also want to work with industrial partners to develop viable concepts for the future in order to drive the energy transition and economic growth in our control area," emphasizes 50Hertz CEO Stefan Kapferer.
"With an increasing share of climate-neutral energy in the portfolio under consideration for the base-load-capable supply of an industrial company, the need for long-term storage increases significantly. As a result, the cost share for these storage facilities also increases. In a fully climate-neutral power supply, storage currently accounts for 45 percent of total costs. Especially the last two percent of_CO2 neutrality cause significant cost increases. The good news is that 10 cents for electricity costs are possible in a CO₂-neutral 24/7 power supply if the costs for long-term storage continue to fall, the flexibility potential in electricity demand is raised and further systemic flex options are taken into account," says Prof. Dr. Mario Ragwitz of Fraunhofer IEG and BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg.

"We talked to various companies for the study. The tenor was clear: There is a high level of interest in the topic of green base load." A crucial point for the companies here is that when implementing such a project, one does not draw the geographical areas from which the RE electricity comes too tightly. This increases flexibility and also resilience, for example against storms," emphasizes Prof. Dr. Felix Müsgens from BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg.

The next step will be to plan how the concept can be put into practice together with industrial companies. To this end, 50Hertz is in talks with potential partners. Similarly, the scientific community will further deepen the findings on the benefits of industrial energy flexibility potential and place them in the context of the overall electricity market design debate in order to shed more light on business cases for industrial flexibilities. The green baseload concept was therefore presented at a meeting of the 50Hertz "Scientific Advisory & Project Board" (SAPB). The SAPB was established by 50Hertz to discuss challenges and innovative solutions for a greenhouse gas-neutral future in an interdisciplinary manner and to work on them in concrete research and development projects. Its members include Prof. Veronika Grimm, Prof. Andreas Löschel and, as a new member, Prof. Lion Hirth.

About 50Hertz
50Hertz operates the power transmission grid in northern and eastern Germany and is expanding it to meet the needs of the energy transition. Our extra-high voltage grid has a circuit length of over 10,000 kilometers - that's the distance from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro. The 50Hertz grid area covers the German states of Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, as well as the city states of Berlin and Hamburg. In these regions, 50Hertz secures the power supply for 18 million people around the clock with around 1,600 Staff Members. 50Hertz is a leader in the secure integration of renewable energies: In our grid area, we want to integrate 100 percent renewable energies safely into the grid and system over the course of a year by 2032. The shareholders of 50Hertz are the listed Belgian holding company Elia Group (80 percent) and KfW Bankengruppe with 20 percent. As a European transmission system operator, 50Hertz is a member of the European association ENTSO-E.

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50Hertz
Alexander Sewohl
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E alexander.sewohl(at)50hertz.com