Research for global markets for renewable energies...Research for global markets for renewable energies Annual conference of the Renewable Energy Research Association in cooperation

Topics 2009

Research forglobal marketsfor renewable energies

Cooperation partner Sponsorer and patron Patron

Bundesministeriumfür Umwelt, Naturschutzund Reaktorsicherheit

Bundesministeriumfür Bildung und Forschung

Expo

rt V

olum

e of

the

Ger

man

Ren

ewab

le E

nerg

ySe

ctor

in B

illio

n Eu

ros

Cover image:The cover image shows the export volume of the German renewable energy sector in billions of euros (source: data from the sector • image from AEE)

Research for global markets for renewable energies

Annual conference of theRenewable Energy Research Associationin cooperation with theRenewable Energy Agency

24-25 November 2009Umweltforum Berlin

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009

The publication was supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety

German Federal Ministry

for the Environment, Nature Conservation

and Nuclear Safety

Contents • Topics 2009

� Welcoming messages

4 Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministryof Education and ResearchThomas Rachel, Parliamentary State Secretary • BMBF

7 Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministryfor the EnvironmentJoachim Nick-Leptin • BMU/Department of Researchand Development for Renewable Energy Sources

� Renewable energies and the transformation ofthe global energy system

10 Megatrends, challenges and strategiesProf. Dr. Frithjof Staiß • ZSWProf. Dr. Jürgen Schmid • Fraunhofer IWES Kassel

18 Significance of renewable energies and of energy efficiency in various global energy scenariosDr. Wolfram Krewitt (†) • DLRDr. Joachim Nitsch • DLRKristina Nienhaus • DLR

24 International energy policyDr. Robert Klinke • Auswärtiges Amt

� Research for global markets – International exchange of experience

30 Welcoming message from the International RenewableEnergy Agency (IRENA)Hélène Pelosse • International Renewable EnergyAgency (IRENA)

33 The global research market for renewable energies:Competition and technology partnerships Prof. Dr. Eicke R. Weber • Fraunhofer ISE Gerhard Stryi-Hipp • Fraunhofer ISE

39 The energy and research policy framework conditionsfor renewable energies in GermanyJörg Mayer • German Renewable Energy Agency

44 TREE – Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency –The Renewables Academy’s knowledge transfer project Berthold Breid • Renewables Academy AG (RENAC)

48 The CERINA Plan – An alternative to the Kyoto instrumentDr. Norbert Allnoch • International Economic Platformfor Renewable Energies (IWR)

� Research for global markets – Technology partnerships for renewable energies

52 The German federal government’s strategy for the internationalisation of science and research Karl Wollin • German Federal Ministry of Educationand Research

55 Off to new markets! – Renewable Energy Export InitiativeJuliane Hinsch • Head of the Office of the RenewableEnergy Export Initiative in the BMWi

57 Solar construction – Climate-appropriate constructionin other climatesProf. Dr. Andreas Holm • Fraunhofer IBP Dr. Michael Krause • Fraunhofer IBP Sebastian Herkel • Fraunhofer ISEDr. Peter Schossig • Fraunhofer ISEProf. Dr. Christian Schweigler • ZAE BayernDr. Norbert Henze • Fraunhofer IWES

61 Concentrating solar collectors for process heat andelectricity generation Anna Heimsath • Fraunhofer ISEWerner Platzer • Fraunhofer ISEStefan Heß • Fraunhofer ISEDirk Krüger • DLRMarkus Eck • DLR

66 Research on geothermal electricity generation – On-site laboratory at Groß SchönebeckDr. Ernst Huenges • Helmholtz Centre Potsdam/ German Research Centre for Geosciences

2

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009Contents

69 Storing bioenergy and renewable electricity in the natural gas grid Dr. Michael Specht • ZSWFrank Baumgart • ZSWBastian Feigl • ZSWVolkmar Frick • ZSWBernd Stürmer • ZSWDr. Ulrich Zuberbühler • ZSWDr. Michael Sterner • Fraunhofer IWESGregor Waldstein • Solar Fuel Technology GmbH & Co. KG

79 Solar thermal power plants – Export hits without a domestic market Prof. Dr. Robert Pitz-Paal • DLRDr. Henner Gladen • Solar Millennium AGDr. Werner Platzer • Fraunhofer ISE

85 Concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) for countries withhigh direct irradiation Dr. Andreas W. Bett • Fraunhofer ISEDr. Bruno Burger • Fraunhofer ISEJoachim Jaus • Fraunhofer ISETobias Fellmeth • Fraunhofer ISEDr. Oliver Stalter • Fraunhofer ISEDr. Matthias Vetter • Fraunhofer ISEHans-Dieter Mohring • ZSWDr. Andreas Gombert • Concentrix Solar GmbHHansjörg Lerchenmüller • Concentrix Solar GmbH

90 Requirements for integration of wind energy into thegrids of various countries Dr. Kurt Rohrig • Fraunhofer IWESDr. Bernhard Lange • Fraunhofer IWESReinhard Mackensen • Fraunhofer IWES

94 Off-grid power supply and global electrificationDr. Philipp Strauß • Fraunhofer IWESMarkus Landau • Fraunhofer IWESMichel Vandenbergh • Fraunhofer IWESGeorg Bopp • Fraunhofer ISEBrisa Ortiz • Fraunhofer ISEDr. Matthias Vetter • Fraunhofer ISEGuido Glania • Alliance for Rural ElectrificationMichael Wollny • SMA Solar Technology AG

� Strategic research objectives

104 Future mobility based on renewable energiesDr. Günther Ebert • Fraunhofer ISEProf. Werner Tillmetz • ZSWDr. Michael Specht • ZSWDr. Michael Sterner • Fraunhofer IWESDr. Bernd Krautkremer • Fraunhofer IWESDr. Thomas Pregger • DLRDr. Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs • Jülich

111 Integration of renewable energies into electricity andheat supply Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schmid • Fraunhofer IWESDr. Bernhard Lange • Fraunhofer IWES Dr. David Nestle • Fraunhofer IWES Dr. Kurt Rohrig • Fraunhofer IWES Dr. Michael Sterner • Fraunhofer IWES Dr. Philipp Strauß • Fraunhofer IWES Uwe Krengel • Fraunhofer IWES

116 New strategic challenges for research and developmentof renewable energies Björn Klusmann • German Renewable Energy Federation (BEE)

122 Research for global markets – Strategic approaches ofthe BMU Joachim Nick-Leptin • German Federal Ministry for theEnvironment

127 The area of conflict between technology transfer andintellectual property protectionDr. Winfried Hoffmann • EPIA President and Chief Technology Officer of Applied Materials GmbH & Co. KG Jana Lewerenz • Secretariat for Future Studies Thomas Pellkofer • Applied Materials GmbH & Co. KG

133 Innovation structures in Germany for technologicalleadership – Solar Valley Central GermanyDr. Hubert A. Aulich • Solar Valley Central Germanyand PV Crystalox Solar PLCDr. Peter Frey • Solar Valley GmbH

� Panel discussion

139 Are Germany’s economy and research in renewableenergies fit for international competition?

� Acknowledgement

146 Sponsors and contributors

� Indexes

148 Locations of FVEE member institutes

149 Addresses of FVEE member institutes

150 Legal notice

3

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009Contents

Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministry of Education and ResearchLadies and Gentlemen,

“Our policies are shaped by the principle of sustainability. We want future generations toenjoy good living conditions. Global climateprotection is the pre-eminent environmentalpolicy challenge of our time. It will provide thebasis for sustainable long-term economic andecological development in the future. We alsoregard climate protection as a competitivedriver for new technologies.” Words to this effect are contained in the original German textof the coalition agreement between the CDU,CSU and FDP.

The theme of your annual conference “Researchfor global markets for renewable energies” follows on from the strategic foundations established in the coalition agreement. One theone hand, the goal is to open up and benefitfrom export opportunities for our economy. Onthe other hand, we can help to solve criticallyimportant global energy and climate problemsand act responsibly for the future by promotingthe spread of environmentally friendly and climate-friendly energy technologies worldwide.I am pleased that the Renewable Energy Research Association is addressing these pressing issues at its annual conference.

The new federal government attaches extremelyhigh importance to energy policy. After all, theissue of how we provide our energy require-ments in the future in an environmentallyfriendly, climate-friendly and sustainable manner is one of the most important globalchallenges of our time. For this reason, we wantto prepare for the transition to the era of regenerative energies and wish to expand ourtechnological leadership in renewable energies.Research is a key part of the approach here.Only by conducting excellent energy researchwill we be able to maintain our strong interna-tional competitive position. And only throughresearch will we be able to ensure that renew -

able energy sources offer solutions that are cost-effective enough to be able to play an evenstronger role in strategic decisions on energysupply and climate protection.

For this reason, we will be developing a newenergy research programme focussing onenergy efficiency research, storage technologies,intelligent grid technology and second-genera-tion biofuels.

The German Federal Ministry of Education andResearch (BMBF) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conserva-tion and Nuclear Safety (BMU) are pleased to beacting as the patrons of the Research Associa -tion’s annual conference. The responsibility forenergy policy and energy research policy isspread across a number of different bodies inthe new federal government too. The BMBF andBMU have already successfully coordinated theirsupport for research on renewable energies during the previous legislative period. The factthat two federal ministries are now acting as patrons for the annual conference demonstratesthat these two ministries will continue to consult with each other and closely coordinatetheir activities. In my view, this is essential if theenergy policy goals in the coalition agreementare to be achieved.

Making climate protection affordable

Climate change is happening and is relentless.In order to keep climate change at a manage-able level, we have to reverse the trend with regard to emissions.

In a few days, the World Climate Summit willbegin in Copenhagen. We must ensure that thisclimate summit will be a success. Failure is notsomething we can afford. We need a legally

4


Thomas RachelParliamentary State [email protected]

Rachel • Welcoming message from the BMBF


5


binding international climate protection treatyfor the period after 2012, an agreement thatfollows on from the Kyoto Treaty. The World Climate Summit in Copenhagen must be usedto put in place the preparations for the agree-ment of a long-term climate protection treaty inthe course of 2010.

The federal government will do everything possible to ensure that all of the central pointsof the new climate protection treaty will be decided upon in Copenhagen, alongside theform and structure of this treaty. The cabinetwas unanimous in this regard at its meeting inMeseberg. For this reason, the Federal Chancel-lor will be participating personally in the Climate Summit in Copenhagen. At the Summit, she will be personally active in tryingto ensure that everything possible is done toachieve a binding climate protection treaty.

Climate protection measures cost money. However, this should not stop states from engaging in climate protection, as all climateprotection measures not undertaken today willultimately cost us much more in the future. Oneof the federal government’s main goals is thusto make climate protection affordable – for in-dustrialised states and for developing countriestoo. In order to reduce CO2, we need efficientand effective technologies that make use of renewable energy sources.

This represents a major task for researchers. Onthe one hand, current technologies have to befurther refined and the investment costs ofthese reduced. On the other hand, we must usenew scientific findings to develop entirely newtechnological approaches that will serve as technology leaps and provide for much moreefficient solutions to our energy and climateproblems.

There is a particular need here for fundamentalresearch organised on a long-term basis. Withits “Basic Energy Research 2020+” support initiative, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research will continue to promote this area of energy research in particular. This corresponds with the distributionof responsibilities for support for energy research among the various bodies.

Maintaining our leading position in research

Germany enjoys a leading international positionin research on and production of renewableenergy technologies and technologies for theefficient conversion and use of energy.

Continuous and ambitious support for researchand development, accompanied by practical testing since the 1980s, has borne fruit. How -ever, other countries have also identified the potential of renewable energies and the associated market opportunities in the sameway has Germany has done. These states are investing strongly in production and research,and in photovoltaic and wind power technologyin particular.

If Germany wishes to maintain its leading technological position in this competitive environment, our research will have to be excellent. We must further develop our techno-logies and promote innovation by intelligentlycombining activities in research, industry, infra-structure and the nurturing of young talent.

Research and innovation require coordination:The excellence of the individual players is an important prerequisite, but is not everything.

As well as supporting the development of individual technologies, the BMBF therefore alsopromotes successful and promising technologyregions as “teams” with the ministry’s specialprogrammes such as the Leading Edge Clustercompetition: The goal is to develop world-classresearch, regional support for innovation andinfrastructure, the industry and educational institutions. These are overall concepts aimed at further improving the competitiveness of given regionsin the future. For example, the goal of the“Solar Valley Central Germany” cluster of excellence is to reduce the costs of photovoltaictechnology to such an extent that so-called gridparity is achieved. It is necessary to overcomethe cost barrier associated with photovoltaics inorder to speed up the use of this technology.

In the future, we will continue to bundle support for sophisticated technology with

regional strengths and initiatives. The secondround of the Leading Edge Cluster competitionhas been initiated with this in mind, and theevaluation round is already in progress.

Improving networking in international research

Research for global markets – the subject to bepresented and discussed at this conference forrenewable energies – means international cooperation first and foremost, and this holds ina number of regards:

International exchange opportunities for scientists and cooperation with the best research centres in the world are prerequisitesfor maintaining our excellent research position.Only as an attractive scientific location with international links will we be able to continue todevelop leading technology and supply it to theworld.

In this context, the internationalisation of thetraining and education of our young scientistsand support for the mobility of scientists are essential.

Many of the target countries for our environ-mentally friendly energy technology productsare developing countries. However, simply exporting technology is not enough here; wealso have to prepare the ground for environ-mentally friendly supply and usage conceptswith strategically prepared cooperation projects.This includes the fostering of expertise, specia-list institutions and the training of experts.

In summary, cooperation with developing countries in matters of education, research anddevelopment must be strengthened in order forthis fostering and training to take place.

These are the components of the federal government’s strategy on the internationalisa-tion of science and research, which was approved at the start of last year and is to becontinued during the present legislative periodtoo.

Science Year 2010 – The futureof energy

Last but not least, we also have to draw publicattention to the critical importance of the issueof energy in the future and the central role ofresearch in the search for solutions.

For this reason, the BMBF has given the upcoming Science Year of 2010 the motto “Thefuture of energy”. The BMBF will be acting together with partners from science, industry,politics and society as a whole to address thepublic, foster enthusiasm, encourage public debate and communicate the importance of research and science in achieving secure, environmentally sustainable and affordableenergy supply in the future. The “Science Year –Energy” initiative is particularly aimed at fostering the interest of young people in the topics of energy and energy research and, as aresult, in scientific and technical careers too. Wehope that as many research institutes, universi-ties and companies as possible will take part inthe “Science Year – Energy”: with their ownprojects, by participating in the research exchange platform, exhibitions, discussion platforms and the nationwide “Energy Day”planned for the end of September 2010, whichwill give people an opportunity to look behindthe scenes and visit facilities where the future ofenergy research is being shaped.

Returning to matters in hand, I would like towish you all a stimulating exchange of informa-tion and opinions at the Research Association’sannual conference and hope you will come upwith many good ideas for business with globalmarkets.


6


Nick-Leptin • Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment

7


Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the German Environment Ministry,I would like to welcome you to this internationalexchange of experience on the occasion of theannual meeting of the Renewable Energy Research Association. Our Parliamentary State Secretary, Ursula Heinen-Esser, had to change her plans for to-night on rather short notice. So, she asked meto apologise for this and to take over this welcome address for her. I would also like toconvey the best wishes of Federal EnvironmentMinister Norbert Röttgen.

“Global climate protection is the pre-eminentenvironmental policy challenge of our time.”This is one of the key statements in the Coalition Agreement of the new government. It clearly shows that climate protection will remainat the top of the German environmental policyagenda in the years to come.

In a few weeks, the eyes of the global commu-nity will be on the Copenhagen conference.People expect the countries of the world to takeresponsibility. Our goal is to reach a consensuson all core issues in Copenhagen. In 2010 thisoutcome must be translated into a detailed, internationally binding agreement.

Despite the difficulties that objectively exist, weare optimistic that a breakthrough will be achie-ved at the Copenhagen summit. Germany hasalways been a driving force in climate protec-tion. It will continue to play this role. We standby our climate policy goals. We are committedto the target of limiting global warming to amaximum of 2 degrees, and the target of cut-ting greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95% by2050. By 2020, we want to achieve a 40%emissions reduction in Germany compared to1990.

Climate policy is essentially energy policy. Two aspects are particularly important:1. We need to expand renewable energy.2. We need to use energy more efficiently.

Next year, the German government will presenta new energy concept. Among other things,this concept will outline • the intended development of the energy

mix• and perspectives for integrating a steadily

growing share of renewable energy in theoverall energy supply system.

Our goal is for renewable energy to provide themain share of energy supply. In a dynamicenergy mix, they will gradually replace conven-tional energy sources.

Chancellor Angela Merkel reaffirmed this in herrecent policy statement: “We want to pursuethe path towards the age of renewable energy”.The most important instrument in this policywill be the Renewable Energy Sources Act, theEEG. The new government remains committedto the EEG – this has also been laid down in theCoalition Agreement. We are delighted thatfeed-in tariffs for renewables have been put inplace in many countries. The EEG has become amajor German export good. A number of coun-tries have used it as a model for a successful policy to facilitate the market introduction of renewable energy.

Germany is an international leader in many re-newable energy technologies. There are variousreasons for this. But a decisive reason is thatGermany has top research institutes and excel-lent scientists in the area of renewable energy.Thanks to their expertise – thanks to your exper-tise – renewable energy made in Germany arein great demand throughout the world.

Joachim Nick-LeptinBMU • Department ofResearch and Development for Renewable Energy [email protected]

It goes without saying that financial frameworkconditions have an important impact on re-search. Decisive impetus was already providedduring the last legislative period. With the HighTech Strategy, R&D funds were stepped up con-siderably. This also benefitted support offeredby the Federal Environment Ministry for rene-wable energy research. We will continue thispolicy. Our aim is to focus research funding onsectors that are particularly relevant for society.These include climate protection and energy.

Successful research is vital for reaching our ambitious energy policy objectives. The researchinstitutes united in the Renewable Energy Research Association can make a major contri-bution to reaching these objectives. I am verypleased about the great interest in this meeting,and I am delighted to see so many young parti-cipants here. The students of today will be theresearchers of tomorrow. Your ideas are needed.Germany will only be able to maintain the current standard of living if we defend our position as technology leader. This means thatwe need scientists and engineers.

I welcome very much that the RenewableEnergy Research Association is addressing inter-national cooperation at this meeting. Climatechange does not stop at borders. We are all affected. And we can only cope with this enormous challenge if we work together.

I am therefore delighted to see so many repre-sentatives of embassies here tonight. I wish youall fruitful and informative discussions and everysuccess for the conference.

Nick-Leptin • Welcoming message from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment

8


9

Renewable energies andthe transformation of theglobal energy system

• Megatrends, challenges and strategies

• Significance of renewable energies and of energy efficiency in various global energy scenarios

• International energy policy

Megatrends, challenges and strategies

Summary

Megatrends such as global population growth,the development of industrialised societies indeveloping and emerging countries, and the increased mobility of people, goods andknowledge are the main factors that will influ-ence energy requirements in the future. Themost important limitation on these develop-ments is the durability of ecological systems.

A paradigm shift is necessary if a balance between growth and sustainability is to befound in the future. A wide range of challengesare associated with the transformation of theenergy system and the emerging global marketsfor renewable energies; these challenges alsohave to be met by science and research policy ifGermany is to retain its position as a technolo -gical leader in international comparison.

Introduction

Our world is changing at an increasing tempo.Industrialisation is proceeding in fast forwardmode in certain parts of the world, and impor-tant markets are shifting from west to east andfrom north to south. Economic growth and theemergence of a global middle class with increa-sing urbanisation and uninterrupted populationgrowth in developing countries are all resultingin a strong increase in demand for raw materialssuch as steel, cement and glass, and for capitalitems and long-life consumer goods. On theother hand, the reverse trends are taking placein western societies due to the ageing andshrinking of populations, an increasing focus onthe consumption of sustainable products and,above all, the transformation of production eco-nomies into service and knowledge economies.

On an overall basis, these developments will nonetheless lead to a steep increase in energyrequirements given current energy supply

structures – the increase will be around 40%over the next twenty years alone [1]. The question thus arises as to how long this development can be sustained, particularly considering that a change in the trends in thefundamental data is not in sight. The availabilityand prices of non-renewable energies and thegeopolitical risks alone demand that a decoup-ling of economic development and energy requirements take place. The task here is tokeep the difference between energy consump-tion and the energy services actually needed –such as mechanical power, heat, light and communications – as low as possible. This isparticularly necessary in view of the limited durability of ecological systems.

Challenges presented by climate change

The “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentra-tions in the atmosphere at a level that wouldprevent dangerous anthropogenic interferencewith the climate system” [2] agreed at the climate conference in 1992 has now resulted inthe specific requirement of limiting the increasein the average global temperature to 2 °C withrespect to the pre-industrial age.

At their summit in L’Aquila, Italy, in July 2009,the G8 states recognised that it would be neces-sary to at least halve global greenhouse gasemissions by 2050 and reduce them by 80% inindustrialised countries compared to 1990 levelsin order to achieve this target [3]. Despite allthe political difficulties, agreement among theinternational community of states on this matterappears to be a matter of “when” and “how”rather than “if” – particularly with regard to thefair distribution of burdens and opportunitiesbetween industrialised and developing coun-tries.

10

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009 Prof. Staiß • Prof. Schmid • Megatrends, challenges and strategies

Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß[email protected]

Prof. Dr. JürgenSchmidFraunhofer IWES [email protected]

After all, the reality of the progress of climatechange will gradually increase the pressure toact and will ultimately force decisions to bemade.

However, the risks of inaction are not the onlyissue here; the opportunities presented by thetransformation of the global energy system areincreasingly being recognised too. A paradigmshift can also clearly be identified in the WorldEnergy Outlook 2009 from the InternationalEnergy Agency (IEA) [1]. In contrast with previous reports, which concentrated on whatshould be done in order to reduce greenhousegas emissions, the focus has shifted to what willhappen if we do not act decisively. In place ofthe business-as-usual development which hasbeen classified as “not sustainable”, a referencescenario has now been introduced that willachieve a stabilisation of the greenhouse gasconcentration in the atmosphere at 450 ppm,which corresponds to the “2 °C rise scenario”.As shown by the investigation carried out byFraunhofer IWES in Figure 1, it is even possiblefrom a technical and structural viewpoint to already achieve fully CO2-free energy supply by2050. To do so, the potentials for saving energy(mainly in the heating sector and in transport)and improving efficiency (e.g. cogeneration)

Geothermal energy(electricity + heat)

IEA Reference szenarioSolar heat

IEA 450 ppm scenarioSolar power600 (photovoltaics +concentrating solarpower)

a/J Wind

E ni y Biomass, heat

gr 400

enE Biomass, electricity

ylira Hydropower

mirP

Nuclear energy200

Gas

Coal

0 Oil

2010 2020 2030 2040 2050Year

need to be systematically harnessed to ensurethat energy requirements do not further increase.

In parallel, fossil fuels and nuclear energy mustbe gradually replaced by a wide mix of renew -able energies.

The main value of this type of scenario is that itdemonstrates what is theoretically possible. Buthow realistic is this from today’s perspective?Can renewable energies fulfil the role assignedto them in the IEA scenario and can they pro-vide around 40% of the world’s energy require-ments by 2030? Currently, the figure is only18%, and a not insignificant fraction of this isrelated to the non-sustainable use of firewood indeveloping countries. What are the key techno-logies, and what opportunities do they offerfrom Germany’s perspective?

Development trend: Renewable energies

Practically all world energy scenarios assumethat renewable power generation in particularneeds to be expanded. After all, electricity con-

Prof. Staiß • Prof. Schmid • Megatrends, challenges and strategies

11


Figure 1The Fraunhofer IWES’szero-emissions scenario by 2050 compared with the International EnergyAgency’s scenarios

sumption is rising in industry and in households,and new applications for electricity such as electromobility are also being added.

In addition, power supply is already responsiblefor over 40% of global CO2 emissions today andis burdened with high specific CO2 emission factors because of the fuels used (coal) and thepoor efficiencies of power plants.

For this reason, the goal of the IEA’s 450-ppmscenario is to more than halve specific CO2

emissions from power generation from 603 gCO2/kWh (2007) to 283 gCO2/kWh by asearly as 2030. In this scenario, nuclear energyand the introduction of CO2 capture and storage (carbon capture and storage, CCS)technologies are to play a role. However, by farthe greatest importance is attached to renewa-ble energies, the capacity of which is to be si-gnificantly increased to almost 2,000 GW. Intotal, the share of renewables in power genera-tion will increase from 18% to 37%, which willnot only fully cover the increase in power con-sumption but will also contribute significantly tothe replacement of conventional fuels before2030.

The 10% criterion for key technologies

As the expansion of power generation from hydropower and conventional combustion ofbiomass is only possible to a limited extent,wind, photovoltaics, solar thermal power plants,geothermal energy, ocean energies and newbiomass conversion processes will be the mainpillars of this development. Thus the centralquestion is whether these technologies are actu-ally capable of this. The “10% criterion” theorycan be forwarded as part of the empirical searchfor an answer to this question – in other words:a technology is capable of developing to be-come a key technology when a certain share ofthe market volume is exceeded.

The 10% criterion is already fulfilled by windpower at the moment, as around 10% of thegrowth in power requirements is being met bythis technology worldwide. The wind markethas been growing at an average of 30% per

annum for ten years now, and is thus growingfifteen times faster than overall power consump-tion.

It is very likely that around three times as muchcapacity, i.e. around 340 GW of wind capacity,will be installed by 2013 as compared to 2008[4], and around 10% of global power genera-tion could be met by wind in 2020 if this trendcontinues.

This can also be expected to apply to photovol-taics with a certain time delay. However, photo-voltaics currently have an installed capacity of16 GW (2008, [5]) and are thus of the order oftenths of a percentage point worldwide. In addition, the amount of financial support necessary for grid-connected operation meansthat photovoltaics are only being used to a significant extent in certain countries such asGermany, Spain and Japan. In Germany, a 1%share of overall power generation is expected tobe exceeded in 2009. The growth potential ofphotovoltaics has often been strongly underesti-mated up to now, as this supposedly expensivetechnology has seen cost reductions in recentyears at a rate that nobody expected. Solarpower can thus be generated for around 10 ct/kWh at locations with lots of sunshine,and this figure is falling all the time. This meansthat photovoltaics are at the threshold of majormarket penetration, and the sector has shownin the last ten years that it can deliver highgrowth rates.

For example, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association’s scenarios assume that itwill be possible to install photovoltaic capacityof more than one hundred gigawatts in Europealone by as early as 2020 [6]. The IEA’s expecta-tions are admittedly significantly lower, with aworldwide installed capacity of around 130 GW[7], but it should be noted that this is based onvery conservative development as regardspower generation costs; these costs are anim portant factor in determining the rate of market penetration and, based on currenttrends, these assumptions can already be regarded as outdated. Nonetheless, the IEA scenario also implies that photovoltaics will beable to meet around 10% of the world increasein power consumption before 2030.


12


The development for the two technologies out-lined here could also be repeated by othertechno logies – e.g.: solar thermal power, withnumerous projects currently underway aroundthe Mediterranean; the efficient conversion ofbiomass using innovative processes (e.g.thermo-chemical gasification of solid biomass);geothermal energy; ocean energies.

This applies analogously to numerous other application areas for renewable energies suchas: solar building design; using solar energy toprovide process heating and cooling; variousenergy storage technologies; renewable fuels;electromobility; fuel cells; renewable hydrogen.The achievement of CO2-free energy supply isthus feasible both technically and economicallyfrom today’s perspective.

Rate of growth of markets forrenewable energies

Globalisation can already be clearly identified invarious sectors. For example, Figure 2 shows thedevelopment of markets for wind turbines basedon the installed capacity for the years 1990,1995, 2000 and 2008. The pace of develop-ment in Europe in the 1990s can clearly be

seen, and major markets have also emerged inAsia and North America since 2000.

The second example indicates the productioncapacities for solar cells and modules, whichhave grown exceptionally quickly in a period ofjust three years in China and Taiwan above all(Figure 3).

Entirely new production and supplier structureshave emerged as part of the globalisation of renewable energies. In the future, large multina-tional companies will also play a significant rolein the sector; this is in contrast with the chrono-logy of wind power in Europe, which beganwith regional and national markets and later ledto exporting, and which often resulted in agreat number of small companies. Multinationalcompanies fulfil the financial and organisationalprerequisites necessary to harness sophisticatedtechnologies and implement increasingly largerprojects. Examples of such projects include off-shore wind farms, solar thermal power plantsand the various production processes for renewable fuels. They can also benefit from numerous competitive advantages which resultfrom these companies’ comparatively high levelof mobility and their international connections,for example.


13


Installed wind capacity

< 75.000 MW< 50.000 MW< 25.000 MW< 10.000 MW< 5.000 MW< 2.500 MW< 1.000 MW< 100 MW

1990 1995 2000 2008

Figure 2Development of installed wind capacity1990-2008 [8], [9]

Figure 3Production capacitiesfor photovoltaic modules and cells aswell as thin-film in2006 and 2009 [10],[11]

Germany as a technologicalleader

What does this development mean for Germanyas a business location? The broadly recognisedleading role played by Germany in the growthof renewable energies and its leading technolo-gical position in many central areas is the resultof very fruitful interplay between politics, science and business over the course of two decades at this stage.

The energy policy framework conditions inplace established sufficient planning securityand made it possible for industry to invest in theproduction and development of equipment inorder to improve the performance and cost- effectiveness of this equipment. For example,the feed-in tariff (an indicator for power genera-tion costs) for electricity from wind energy hasfallen by over 60% since the German ElectricityFeed Act came into force in 1991 [12]. A similarcost reduction has also taken place for solarpower since the introduction of so-called cost-covering remuneration in the mid-1990s [13].

While science provided the impetus for thetechnological development in most cases, support instruments such as the so-called“100,000 Roof Programme” and the GermanRenewable Energy Sources Act helped to speed

up innovation, as the existing markets meantthat research results were quickly transferredfrom the laboratory to production.

As a result, a prospering renewable energy sec-tor developed that is competitive internationallyand currently employs around 300,000 people– around twice as many as in 2004. A good example here is the German wind industry,which had turnover of 8.5 billion euros in 2008with exports representing 82% of this figure[14]. Worldwide, almost one in every threeeuros invested in renewable energies is spent onGerman-made wind power technology. This isof benefit not just to equipment manufacturersbut also to suppliers from all sectors of the economy. This particularly applies to the mechanical engineering and machinery sectors,which are heavily involved in equipping photo-voltaics factories worldwide.

In the future, the target countries for renewableenergies will be establishing their own industriesmuch more than has previously been the case.They will often be benefiting here from Germanexpertise, which they can then build upon. However, there is also the risk that trade flowswill be reversed; this can currently be observedin the case of Chinese photovoltaic modules,where the cost advantages are mainly due tomajor state subsidies for the construction ofsolar factories.


14


< 10.000 MW

< 5.000 MW

< 2.500 MW

< 1.000 MW< 500 MW< 100 MW

PV cells 2006

PV cells 2009

PV modules 2006

PV modules 2009

Thin film 2006

Thin film 2009

Even though this type of development cannotbe ruled out in the future, no country will ulti-mately benefit from a “subsidy race”. In thegrowing international competitive environment,it will be crucial for the industry in Germanythat it establishes an advantage based on engineering performance in order to compen-sate for location-specific disadvantages such asthe higher wage level. This is mainly the respon-sibility of the companies themselves, particularlyin those areas of application where there is asufficiently large market. However, this shouldnot be misinterpreted as a generalisation for entire areas of technology, as engineering development is by no means already completein wind power, photovoltaics, solar thermalenergy, hydropower and the whole area of bioenergies.

Support for research and development of renewableenergies

The state’s task is to support not just fundamen-tal research but also applied research so thatnew technologies, processes and strategies can

be harnessed for energy supply in the future.The transition to industry-financed research isgradual, and should occur in the phase betweendemonstration and market introduction in thetechnology lifecycle.

State support for research should concentrateon areas of technology that will be relevant tothe market in the medium term (in around 3 to5 years) or long term (in over 10 years). The ex-tent to which this should occur depends mainlyon the amount of potential of the technologiesas regards social and economic development.This is undoubtedly very much applicable to renewable energies, as the transformation ofglobal energy supply is a central challenge forhumankind in the 21st century. For this reason,international competition for the best techno-logy will increase rapidly. This affects industry aswell as research. In particular, multinationalcompanies are in a position to procure researchand development services from the “best in theworld” at all times. This is the challenge that science and research policy in Germany have toface.

When German federal government expenditurefor research is examined over a longer period, itcan be seen that spending as a percentage of


15


3.000

2.500

2.000

1.500

1.000

500

0

1974

1979

1984

1989

1994

1999

2004

2009

Ger

man

Exp

enditur

e on

Ener

gy

Rese

arch

(M

io. €

) Renewables / Energy Efficiency

322 Mio. € (32.9%)

Fusion135 Mio. € (13.8%)

Nuclear205 Mio. €

(29.0%)

FossilEnergy33 Mio. €(3.4%)

removal of nuclearpower plants and radioactive waste

management284 Mio. € (29.0%)

Figure 4Amounts and structureof German federal government expenditure on energyresearch between1974 and 2009 [16]

gross domestic product has always ranged between over 2% and just under 3% since the1980s [15].

However, with a current figure of around 2.5%,Germany lies behind other industrial nationssuch as Japan (2005: 3.3%) or the USA (2005:2.6%), although it should be noted for the USAin particular that its gross domestic product isalmost four times greater.

Figure 4 shows that energy research spending inGermany in the mid-1980s was significantlyabove the current level [16]. Since then, the distribution of funding has shifted, but the fraction for renewable energies and energy efficiency is only around one-third in the targetsfor 2009 too. Germany must do much, muchmore in order to consolidate its position of tech-nological leadership in this area in the light ofthe importance of renewable energies for globalenergy supply, the technological challenges andthe growth that can be expected in research activities worldwide. The target markets mustbe kept in mind here, and technologies must bedeveloped even if there is no or else very littlepotential for using them in Germany (e.g. high-temperature solar thermal energy, specialisedprocesses for harnessing bioenergy, or the useof ocean energies). At the same time, we needmore technology partnerships with industriali-sed countries outside of Europe and with emerging and developing countries.

It is indeed possible to identify positive trends,which are primarily associated with special programmes such as “Organic photovoltaics”,“BioEnergy 2021” or “Lithium-ion battery LIB2015” or with the National Electromobility Development Plan, the National Hydrogen andFuel Cell Technology Innovation Plan (NIP) andthe Leading Edge Cluster competition. Thedoubling of the research budget of the GermanFederal Ministry for the Environment for renewable energies since 2004 is also a contributing factor here.

However, this trend must be speeded up andmust become permanent. The RenewableEnergy Research Association recommends anannual increase in state research support in thearea of renewable energies of 20 percent in

order to double research expenditure to around550 million euros by the end of the current legislative period [17].

Making Germany one of the world leaders ineducation, science and research, and makingthe transition to the era of regenerative energies– these two goals are highlighted in the fore-word of the new German federal government’scoalition agreement [18]. The government willhave to be judged by how it meets these goals.The technological basis for achieving them is already in place. This is evidenced not least bythe wide range of equipment and services represented at the Renewable Energy ResearchAssociation’s 2009 annual conference on thetopic of “Research for global markets for renewable energies”.

Literatur

[1] International Energy Agency (IEA): WorldEnergy Outlook 2009. IEA, Paris 2009.

[2] Rahmenübereinkommen der VereintenNationen über Klimaänderungen.

[3] G8 Summit 2009: Chair’s Summary,L’Aquila, Italy, 10 July 2009.

[4] BTM Consult ApS: World Market Update2008 (Forecast 2009-2013). Ringkøbing,Denmark 2009 (www.btm.dk).

[5] Renewable Energy Policy Network for the21st Century (REN21): Renewables GlobalStatus Report: 2009 Update. REN21 Secretariat, Paris 2009 (www.ren21.net).

[6] European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA): SET FOR 2020. EPIA,2009 (www.epia.org).

[7] International Energy Agency: Energy Technology Perspectives 2008 – Scenariosand Strategies to 2050. InternationalEnergy Agency, Paris 2008.


16


[8] Earth Policy Institute: Cumulative Installed [17] ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien:Wind Power Capacity by Selected Country Verdopplung der Forschungsförderung fürand World, 1980-2007, (www.earth- erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz policy.org). im Koalitionsvertrag verankern.

Presseinformation, Berlin, 16.10.2009.[9] European Wind Energy Association

(EWEA): Wind energy development in the [18] Wachstum, Bildung, Zusammenhalt. DerEU 1998 to 2009 (www.ewea.org). Koalitionsvertrag zwischen CDU, CSU und

FDP. 17. Legislaturperiode, Oktober 2009.[10] Sonne Wind & Wärme (Hrsg.): Weltkarte

der PV-Industrie – 124 Produktionsstand-orte in 31 Ländern, in: Sonne Wind &Wärme, 2/2006, S. 38-39.

[11] Sonne Wind & Wärme (Hrsg.): Weltkarteder PV-Industrie – Zell-, Modul- undDünnschichtfertigung – 355 Hersteller in42 Ländern, in: Sonne Wind & Wärme,16/2009, S. 93-94.

[12] Vorbereitung und Begleitung der Erstellung des Erfahrungsberichtes 2007gemäß § 20 EEG-Forschungsbericht. Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Frithjof Staiß,Maike Schmidt, Dr. Frank Musiol, Zentrumfür Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-For-schung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW). Stutt-gart November 2007 (www.bmu.de).

[13] Das Aachener Modell der kostendecken-den Einspeisevergütung (www.aachen-hat-energie.de).

[14] Bundesverband Windenergie e. V.: MitWindenergie aus der Konjunkturflaute.Pressemitteilung vom 21. April 2009.

[15] Bundesministerium für Bildung und For-schung (Hrsg.): Bundesbericht Forschungund Innovation 20082008. Berlin 2008.

[16] Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Natur-schutz und Reaktorsicherheit (Hrsg.): Inno-vation durch Forschung – Jahresbericht2008 zur Forschungsförderung im Bereichder erneuerbaren Energien. Berlin 2009.


17


Significance of renewable energiesand of energy efficiency in variousglobal energy scenarios

When one takes stock of the progress towardsmore sustainable development that the globalenergy supply has made in the last decade, theresults are disappointing. Sustainability deficitsin energy supply remain evident: the globalwarming that this energy supply causes; thevery stark difference in energy consumptionbetween industrialised and developing countries; the scarcity and higher prices ofcrude oil and natural gas that can be observed;the continuing risks of nuclear energy. These deficits have not become any smaller in the lastten years, as the demand for energy has grownrapidly due to the inadequacy of efforts to improve efficiency in “high-consumption countries” (industrialised countries) and therapid growth in many emerging countries. Although renewable energies are expanding,they currently cannot (yet) keep up with thisgrowth and thus cannot increase their respective shares of total energy supply.

On the other hand, a large number of energyscenarios that describe possible future develop-ments in the global energy system clearly showthat only significantly more efficient use ofenergy combined with a major expansion of renewable energies will be able to make a comprehensive contribution to solving the problems listed above. Numerous studies haveconcluded that this goal can be achieved tech-nologically and that this approach is necessaryfrom an economic viewpoint if economies wishto continue to enjoy a stable and affordableenergy supply. On a global level, it is thus expected that renewable energies will be ableto provide energy amounts of the order of thetotal current world energy consumption by2050 (Figure 1).

Older scenarios (examples: Shell, WBGU, IEA2003) generally assumed significantly increasingenergy demand and thus expected significant

contributions to come from renewable energies.The contributions of fossil and nuclear energieswere also expected to rise strongly. However,the growing urgency of drastically reducinggreenhouse gases combined with the increasingscarcity of fossil fuels has made it necessary toexamine global efficiency potential more systematically in recent years.

For this reason, current scenarios assume lowerconsumption growths (examples: IEA 2008,WETO 2006), even in their reference or baselinecases. The predicted increase in global energyconsumption by 2050 will then be only 700-900 EJ/a. A particularly systematic determina-tion of efficiency potentials was carried out inthe “Energy-(R)evolution” scenario. If these potentials can be tapped at an early enoughstage, the global primary energy consumptioncould be returned to its current level of around500 EJ/a after passing through a maximum ofalmost 550 EJ/a around 2020. With the simultaneous expansion of renewable energiesto around 270 EJ/a (their contribution in 2007was 64 EJ/a), it will be possible to reduce CO2

emissions to 10 Gt CO2/a by 2050, meaningthat the maximum CO2 concentration could bestabilised at 450 ppm (“2 °C target”).

If potential efficiency increases are not realisedto this extent, higher demand will also have tobe met. The example of the BLUE-MAP scenariofrom the IEA quotes the following figures:

• Contribution of renewable energies 230 EJ/a• Nuclear energy 90 EJ/a (currently 30 EJ/a)• Fossil fuels 350 EJ/a (currently 412 EJ/a)

In order to achieve the climate protection targetof 450 ppm, it is assumed that a considerableamount of CO2 will be captured and stored underground. Assuming that efficiency impro-vements are very inadequate, the target of

Dr. Krewitt, Dr. Nitsch, Nienhaus • Global energy scenarios

18


DLR Dr. Wolfram Krewitt(†)

Dr. Joachim [email protected]

Kristina [email protected]

450 ppm will not be met even if the contributi-ons of nuclear and fossil fuels are increased considerably. For example, the WETO-CCC scenario only achieves a stabilisation of the CO2

concentration at 550 ppm. A very significantimprovement in the efficiency of the conversionand use of energy in all regions worldwide isthus essential if climate change is to be kept toa manageable level. Secondary importance withregard to the potential for minimising green-house gases by 2050 is attached to renewableenergies and to scenarios that also depend onnuclear energy and CCS technology.

The potential of the “solar technologies” already available today is large enough to beable to meet demand such as that in the“Energy (R)evolution” scenario, which providesfor an increase of a factor of 4.2 relative to thecurrent contribution. After around 30 years ofsystematic research, development and marketintroduction, a wide variety of high-qualitytechnologies are now available.

The current state of research progress and themarket launches also makes it possible to statethat further significant technological improve-ments can be expected in the future. This and

the ongoing rapid development of the marketmean that costs will continue to fall signifi-cantly, accompanied by engineering improve-ments to equipment. Dynamic modelcalculations that take these factors into accountshow that useful energy from renewable ener-gies will be less costly than energy from primarysources after 2020 at the latest.

The electricity sector is of particular interest because of its highly dynamic growth and itsmajor economic importance (Figure 2). The contribution of renewable energies is currently18% worldwide, with the dominant share fromhydropower. However, because of the dramaticgrowth in demand for electricity in the last tenyears, the share of renewables has fallen by onepercent. In the IEA’s “baseline” development,electricity demand will increase by a factor of2.5 by 2050 relative to the 2007 level. Even inthe case of significant improvements in effi-ciency of between 7,000 and 12,000 TWh/a ofreduced electricity demand compared to the“baseline” development, electricity demandshould still be between 1.8 and 2 times the current level, as shown in the two 450-ppm scenarios (Figure 2).


19

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009Prim

ary En

ergy

EJ/a

Actual 1

997

Actual 2

007

Shell (2

000)

WBGU (20

03)

IEA (200

3)

IEA-ETP

Baselin

e (2008

)

WETO-CC

C (2006

)

IEA-BLU

E-MAP (

2008)

E-(R)evo

lution (2

008)

Coal Mineral oil Gas NuclearEnergy RE

Figure 1Selected scenarios forglobal energy supply in2050

This growth will demand that considerable efforts be made to promote power generationfrom renewable energies. In the “Energy-(R)evo-lution” scenario, their contribution increasesfrom 3,600 TWh/a currently to around 29,000TWh/a by 2050, which would then correspondto a share of 77%. In the BLUE-MAP scenario, itwould increase to around 19,000 TWh/a (45%).As the additional contribution from hydropower– and also from biomass – is limited, this growthwill mainly be provided by wind and solarenergy. Lower rates of growth for these techno-logies in the BLUE-MAP scenario make a majorexpansion of nuclear power to almost 10,000TWh/a necessary (currently 2,800 TWh/a). Inthis scenario, fossil fuels will even be used ataround the same levels as today. The BLUE-MAPscenario assumes that CCS power plants areused for almost 85% of this amount of energy,corresponding to a total of 11,500 TWh/a ofpower.

Wind power currently has a capacity of 121 GWworldwide. The “Energy-(R)evolution” scenarioassumes an increase to 2,700 GW by 2050,meaning that the annual market volume, currently at 27 GW/a, would “only” have to increase by a factor of five.

At the same time, the average electricity costswill sink by another 40%. In comparison,growth by a factor of 180 in photovoltaic capa-city is necessary (currently 16 GW), and the an-nual market volume would have to increase bya factor of 35 to around 170 GW/a. In parallel,electricity costs would fall to around a quarter oftoday’s levels on average. The market expansionof solar thermal power plants is only beginning.Their power share would be around 800 GW in2050 according to the “Energy-(R)evolution”scenario, which corresponds to a market volume of approximately 40 GW/a. The genera-tion costs should fall by around 60% comparedto current power plants.

The market development proposed in the“Energy-(R)evolution” scenario shows that rene-wable energies will almost completely replacefossil fuel power plants in the marketplace overthe next 40 years (Figure 3). At the moment,around 220 GW/a of new power plant capacityis being installed per annum, with over 65 GW/aof this coming from renewable energies (inclu-ding 28 GW/a of hydropower and 27 GW/a ofwind power). These technologies – supplemen-ted by biomass, geothermal energy and, in thelong term, wave energy and other sources –


20


Elec

tricity

Gen

eration TW

h/a

Actual 1

997

Actual 2

007

IEA-Base

line (20

08)

IEA-BLU

E-MAP (

2008)

E-(R)evo

lution (2

008)

Decreased Power Demand due to increased Efficiency

Geothermal energy

Biomass

Solar

Wind

other RE

Hydropower

Nuclear energy

Oil, Gas

Gas combined with CCS

Coal

Coal combined with CCS

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

0

Figure 2Structure of electricitysupply in 2050 in two450-ppm scenarios

will lead to a continuous growth in the market volume to around 260 GW/a in 2030 and 430 GW/a in 2050.

In total, the capacity to be installed annually willthus approximately double – due to the increasing demand for electricity and to the significantly lower numbers of full-load hoursthat apply to renewable energies.

Similar growth trends, which cannot be descri-bed in detail here, will also have to take place inthe heating sector, with strong growth requiredin the solar collector market in particular.

By combining the resultant market volumeswith the assumed cost trend for the individualtechnologies, the expected investment volumesfor a growing global renewable energies marketcan then be derived (Figure 4). Around €170billion per annum is already being invested inrenewable energy technologies currently. How-ever, (large-scale) hydropower is responsible for€65 billion per annum of this amount, with the wind industry accounting for a further €30 billion per annum. In the “Energy-(R)evolu-

tion” scenario, the annual investment volumewill rise to almost €600 billion per annum by2030 and almost €900 billion by 2050, with investments in hydropower remaining approxi-mately constant.

Solar technologies will be responsible for a significant fraction of this with 55%, followed inturn by wind power. The considerable growthby a factor of almost five in the investment volume for renewable energies is a sign of theshift away from today’s fuel-dependent energysupply with its totally uncertain price trends.

This shift is already well underway in the case ofwind power, photovoltaics and the harnessingof biomass. Solar thermal power plants are currently undergoing something of a rebirth insouthern Europe, northern Africa and the USA.Further technologies such as power generationfrom deep geothermal energy and wave energyare “in the starting blocks”.

In the case of heat provision technologies, theexisting market trends for the technologies already available need to be strengthened by


21

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009Ann

ual c

apac

ity in

stalled for RE

GW/a

Wave Energy, Tides

Geo Thermal

Solar Thermal

Photovoltaics

Biomass, Biogas

Wind

Hydropower

Power Generation

Accumulated annual installation of power

stations

Szenario: “Energy (R)evolution“

Figure 3Annual capacity installed for renewableenergies in the electricity sector

means of suitable support instruments. The variety of energy sources to be harnessed, thedemanding technical standards with regard toefficient and cost-effective systems and the generally decentralised nature of renewableenergy technologies result in a wide variety interms of sectors and companies – ranging fromlarge-scale series production with a global dimension through to regional and craft-indu-stry structures.

These characteristics combined with the highlevel of public acceptance make it easier to raisecapital and have also led to the involvement ofa wide range of players.

In addition, the use of domestic renewableenergy sources coupled with more efficient useof energy will make many countries less dependent on energy imports. Thanks to thiscombination of climate-related and economicadvantages, stronger expansion of renewableenergies (combined with improved efficiency ofuse) has all of the typical characteristics of a“win-win” strategy. All of these factors, whenconsidered together, should be sufficient to

ensure stable support from energy policy and togive rise to long-term growth.

Germany is at the forefront among industriali-sed nations in terms of the development, market growth and energy policy support forrenewable energies. Investments of around €12billion per annum are currently being made inthe German domestic market (2008).

Based on the favourable initial conditions forGerman companies (current foreign turnover isaround €8 billion per annum, which accountsfor around 20% of the world market volume),foreign markets with a size of around €60-80billion per annum should be created by 2030.According to the “Energy-(R)evolution” scena-rio, turnover of between €80 billion and €100billion per annum is possible for the German renewable energy sector by 2050, which wouldcorrespond to an average share of between12% and 15% of the world market.

Major stimuli for new sectors of the economyand for jobs will result from the widespread application of a large number of new energy


22


Investments in Billion EUR (2008) / Year

Generation of Power and Heat

Szenario: “Energy (R)evolution“

Wave Energy

Geo Thermal

Solar Thermal Collectores

Solar thermal power stations

Photovoltaics

Biomass, Biogas

Wind

Hydropower

Figure 4Global investments inrenewable energies forelectricity and heat byenergy type

technologies. By 2030, the gross number ofjobs in the renewable energy sector could thusrise to between 500,000 and 600,000. A figureof the same order of magnitude can be expected for the increased use of technologiesto improve energy efficiency.

However, to achieve these goals, ongoing andincreasingly intensive efforts to maintain andconsolidate the current favourable initial position on the world renewable energy marketare necessary by the German renewable energyindustry and also from the accompanyingenergy policy.

With a more pessimistic scenario that assumesthat these efforts are not maintained, the turnover to be expected for the German renewable energy sector will not exceed €40 billion per annum, even with significantgrowth in the world markets.

Increased international cooperation will be necessary to provide the foundation for effectiveclimate protection combined with global energysupply that is largely based on renewableenergy sources. This trend is very much compa-tible with the liberalisation and globalisation ofthe energy markets, and it offers many opportu-nities for constructive political cooperation. Theworld’s very great potential for renewable energies can only by harnessed to the extentnecessary to meet the global demand for sustainable energy if joint international projectsare implemented. This type of international“solar energy partnership” offers important geopolitical advantages. They are an ideal opportunity to reduce economic inequality between north and south and to create globalmarkets for future-oriented energy technologieswithout the risk of conflicts for scarce resources.For example, the significance for global energypolicy of the harnessing of the major potentialof solar and wind power around the Mediterra-nean should not be underestimated in the con-text of the economic development and politicalstabilisation of this region and of its relationshipwith Europe.

There is no lack of solution approaches for thepressing problems of energy supply and climateprotection. However, it is necessary that the

efforts which have been successful up to nowbe expanded quickly and comprehensively andthat the approach taken by just a few countriesso far be expanded and implemented evenmore intensively. National egos should take aback seat here. The European Union, whichrightly sees itself as having a leading role in theadvancement of climate protection, can act toset an example here and would be economicallyand politically successful in doing so.


23


Dr. Robert KlinkeGerman Federal ForeignOfficeHead of the “International EnergyPolicy” [email protected]


I would like to start by thanking the RenewableEnergy Research Association for inviting me tothis annual conference.

I am sure that most of you will be familiar fromyour day-to-day work with the German FederalMinistry of Economics, the Federal Ministry forthe Environment and the Federal Ministry ofTransport, Building and Urban Development asthe main bodies that implement the federal government’s energy policy. However, onething is clear: Energy policy is no longer a natio-nal affair. It is very much a current issue that isdebated very intensively both bilaterally between states and also in multilateral forums.The international political arena is increasinglygetting involved; after all, the economic prosperity of humankind is dependent on thisissue. In addition, this is an area of politicswhere individual states acting alone can achievelittle. Only coordinated international efforts willlead to success. For this reason, German FederalForeign Office provides intensive support for international debate on energy policy in closecooperation with other organs of the federal government.

After all, one thing is certain: Our national strategy for secure and climate-friendly energysupply can only be successful if we coordinate itwith our international partners. In the areas ofenergy and climate protection, we cannot actalone. CO2 emissions change the climate world-wide regardless of whether they come from acar in Germany or from a coal-fired power plantin China. German oil consumption influencesthe world market price via the oil markets andthus also affects consumption in other regionsof the world. German investments in renewableenergies and progress in research can reducethe prices for equipment – as can be currentlyobserved in the case of photovoltaics – and thusstimulate further investment in sustainable ener-gies worldwide. Successes and failures in energyresearch today will decisively shape the globalenergy system of tomorrow.

We have to think and act in an increasingly global manner as regards energy policy. Ofcourse, we must also not lose sight of the development issues that are closely associatedwith the energy issue. There are still 1.6 billionpeople worldwide who have no electricity. Theyare waiting for energy supply methods that aredecentralised and affordable. In order to createfair opportunities for development, we muststructure access to energy reserves in a transpa-rent manner and take new approaches toenergy supply that do not threaten the common foundations for human life. The mainissue here is to significantly reduce dependenceon fossil fuels and, in turn, the emissions ofgreenhouse gases.

We are faced with a three-pronged challengeboth nationally and internationally. We have to:1. Prevent a climate catastrophe2. Achieve a secure energy supply3. Keep development opportunities open

If we fail to meet this triple challenge, the consequences for the international communityand for German foreign-policy interests will bedisastrous. On the other hand, if we succeed infinding the correct responses to these threechallenges, this will contribute positively to ourforeign-policy goal of achieving a stable andpeaceful world order. This is why the success ofrenewable energies worldwide is so importantfor our foreign policy. Renewable energies arethe only answer to all three of these questionsat the same time. There are certain energy tech-nologies that represent a partial response to oneor two of these three challenges. The attractionof renewable energy sources is that a break-through for renewables will simultaneously prevent a climate catastrophe, create a long-term, secure energy supply and open up opportunities for development to all.

Based on this consideration, it is self-evidentthat responsible foreign policy must supportand promote the breakthrough for these technologies in every way it can.

Dr. Klinke • International energy policy

24


International energy policy

Coal and oil fuelled the first and second indu-strial revolutions, and the breakthrough for re-newable energies will now spark off a veritablethird industrial revolution. Germany has alreadyundertaken major steps in starting off this revolution. We must now ensure that otherstates follow our lead. After all, Germany willnot be able to achieve this energy revolutionalone. I regard this as a central task for our foreign policy. We must explain the advantagesof a switchover to renewable energy sources toour partners worldwide, and we have to showthem the approaches necessary to implementthis switchover. We also have to give them ahelping hand so that we can all travel this pathtogether.

We Germans are particularly credible partnersfor many states around the world because ofthe success of our policy up to now and because of our leading position in research.

Just how successful our support mechanisms inGermany have been is shown by a study by theInternational Energy Agency (IEA). It confirmsthat Germany and other states, including Denmark, Spain and Portugal, provide the mosteffective support for renewable energies. TheIEA also notes that the certainty with regard toframework conditions provided by feed-in systems with fixed remuneration creates a stronger investment incentive than the amountof the tariffs alone.

The positive experience we have had with theGerman Renewable Energy Sources Act is one ofour most convincing arguments. So far, over 40 states worldwide have passed similar acts orbeen guided by the German act in their promo-tion of renewable energies. Countless otherstates are interested in applying the act too. TheRenewable Energy Sources Act is a German-made success story, and is also a stroke of luckfor our foreign policy. In this way, we can actively offer our experience to other states.Flagship projects in Germany – I am thinkinghere of the second-biggest solar farm in theworld in Lieberose and of the solar tower powerplant in Jülich, which were both opened recently – also ensure that we continue to beprominent pioneers for renewable energies.

Our leading role in the area of renewables represents both an opportunity and a responsi-bility at the same time. It is a major opportunityfor the German economy and for renewableenergy technologies with the “Made in Germany” brand. However, it also leads to certain obligations: If we don’t drum up enthusiasm for renewable energies on the inter-national stage, who else will do so? For this reason, we are using our good reputation topromote renewable energies worldwide.

IRENA, Mediterranean SolarPlan and Desertec

Probably the greatest success of this policy sofar has been the founding of IRENA, the new in-ternational organisation for renewable energies,in Bonn on 26 January 2009. The idea for IRENAoriginated in Germany, and Germany was alsothe driving force behind the process of settingup IRENA. IRENA will give renewable energies avoice worldwide and will advise governmentshow they can switch their national energy supply over to renewable energy sources asquickly as possible. IRENA, which probablywould not exist without Germany’s involve-ment, already has over 130 member statestoday and will help to pave the way for renewa-ble energies in its role as one of many global institutions. Germany will continue to retain animportant role in IRENA: The IRENA InnovationCentre in Bonn is to be the source of importantstimuli for the ongoing development of renew-able energies.

IRENA will contribute to the progress of the expansion of renewable energies worldwide. AsEuropeans, we have a particular interest in theprogress of renewables in our own region andin our vicinity in particular. For example, thereare major opportunities in the Mediterraneanregion for the harnessing of energy from rene-wable sources. Within the context of the Unionfor the Mediterranean, we are working togetherwith our partners on the “Solar Plan”, a solarenergy programme for the Mediterranean region. Our main aim here is that the potentialof renewable energies around the Mediterra-nean be harnessed.


25


We are also providing extensive accompanyingsupport to the new “Desertec Industrial Initia-tive” consortium.

This consortium could provide new expertiseand implementation opportunities for our solarenergy programme. Within the context of German foreign policy, we wish to help in thecreation of instruments and a framework thatwill allow this consortium to be successful.

One example here is that the German FederalForeign Office is currently helping to pave theway for renewable energies in North Africa by financing the “UniSolar” programme being im-plemented by the DLR, which will support theexpansion of solar power in North Africa.

What we need for the next step with the “Mediterranean Solar Plan” and – depending onthe feasibility study yet to be completed – alsofor Desertec are equipment and grids. I do notregard direct investment as the task of the state.Our job is to create the political framework sothat the existing potential for economic coope-ration can be harnessed in a systematic manner.We are working to provide security for the necessary investments and to put in place sensible rules so that these investments can provide the best results for all participants.

Strategic energy partnerships

In addition to these specific initiatives, the Federal Foreign Office is also working on the in-tegration of climate protection and energy policy issues into all areas of foreign policy, security policy, foreign trade policy and development policy. Nowadays, diplomacy alsoincludes energy and climate diplomacy.

On the one hand, we will have to deal with governance issues in the future to a greater extent. We aim to create an international frame-work for energy relations that will provide dependability and thus greater security. Financing, production, trading and the respective shares of gas, oil and renewable energies in overall energy consumption are largely determined by a system of institutionsand rules.

On the other hand, we will be building on strategic partnerships with individual countries.Here too, politics can open doors for businessand vice versa.

We take advantage here of the opportunities offered by bilateral dialogue in all issues relatingto energy relations, such as joint research or theexchanging of best practices. Dialogue on thematter of renewable energies also plays an important role in our strategic partnerships.

We have already set up a forum for dialogue onenergy and climate matters with the USA in theform of the “Transatlantic Climate Bridge”. Weaim to further intensify this dialogue in the coming months, particularly in the area ofenergy research. We have established energypartnerships not only with the west, but alsowith the north and south: I would like to high-light here our energy partnerships with Norwayand Nigeria, and an energy partnership withAngola is currently being planned.

We are also working to increase the importanceof energy issues in our foreign relations in a European context too. Russia will remain an important strategic partner in our externalenergy relations. I am convinced that we can integrate Russia even more strongly into Euro-pean economic structures with a wide-basedmodernisation partnership. By doing so, wewould also be improving European energy security significantly.

The role of energy research

What role does energy research play in these efforts by the Federal Foreign Office? One cando so much promotional work for a given pro-duct, but the product will only be successful ifthe quality is right. Germany enjoys a lot of credibility based on its successes with renewableenergies up to now in terms of research, energymanagement and policy. However, we cannotallow ourselves to rest on our laurels in this regard. We must consolidate our credibilityanew every day by continuing to push forward.We want to continue to increase renewableenergies' share in the energy supply. We wantto expand electricity grids in order to ensure


26


supply security in the context of increased inputfrom renewable energy sources and decentrali-sed power plant structures. We want to increaseour energy efficiency.

We want to find and implement better solutionsfor energy storage in order to be able to betterintegrate renewable energies into the grid. Weneed fossil-fuelled power plants that can becontrolled more flexibly, along with energy storage systems and better load management.

Energy research plays a crucial role in all thesechallenges. After all, it determines the feasibility,security and costs of these measures and thusthe degree to which they can be implementedpolitically, both nationally and worldwide. Wemust retain our position of world leadership inenergy research and renewable energy techno-logies in order to remain credible as a promoterof renewable energies.

Partners that have followed our example alsoexpect support from Germany in pressing matters such as the grid integration of renew-able energies. The more German researchmakes us able to provide this support, the morecredible our efforts will become.

German energy research and German foreignenergy policy thus form a symbiotic relationshipwith one another. Each can benefit from theother. Excellent achievements in national energyresearch, productive international research co-operations and tangible results in renewableenergy research are extremely strong argumentsin the context of political dialogue with ourpartners. The growing political interest in issuesrelating to energy supply and renewable energies can and will in turn open up better framework conditions and new opportunitiesfor research cooperation.

International research cooperation is also anarea which is becoming more and more impor-tant in foreign policy. On the one hand, this isbecause a large fraction of global knowledge isof course not generated in Germany. Networking with science locations worldwide isin our interest so that we can benefit from thisknowledge too. On the other hand, the majorchallenges facing the world can only be solvedby acting together.

For this reason, the Federal Foreign Office stron-gly supports international research cooperation.I would like to mention just two examples here.

Around 20 German diplomatic missions abroadin locations with high potential for innovationhave scientific officers. These include Moscowand Washington, along with Beijing, Tokyo andBrasilia. They maintain contact with the researchministries and institutions of their host coun-tries, keep themselves informed of the latest developments in these countries and report onthese. They also support politicians in the areaof science, companies active in research, andscientists and researchers from Germany in theirwork abroad. The Federal Foreign Office intendsto further expand this network of science officers next year.

Secondly, the Federal Foreign Office providedthe impetus this year for the creation of “German Houses of Science and Innovation”.A whole range of German research and scienceorganisations are active abroad. They have excellent projects, offer very good stipends andcontribute to Germany’s good reputation. However, their contribution to our good reputa-tion could be even stronger if they presentedthemselves in a joint, coordinated manner. Forthis reason, we have begun to establish “housesof science and innovation” in five pilot locations– São Paulo, Moscow, Tokyo, New Delhi andNew York. The organisations will now presentthemselves under this single umbrella and provide their services in a coordinated manner.We intend to include further important locati-ons after the pilot phase that will last aroundanother two years. We would be delighted if theRenewable Energy Research Association were toshow interest and participate in the “GermanHouses of Science and Innovation” initiative.

As you can see, diplomats and energy researchers can do a lot to help either in theirwork. With this in mind, I hope that this eventwill help to strengthen dialogue between thefields of diplomacy and energy research andthat it will open up further opportunities for cooperation.


27


28

29

Research for global markets – Internationalexchange of experience

• Welcoming message from the International RenewableEnergy Agency (IRENA)

• The global research market for renewable energies: Competition and technology partnerships

• The energy and research policy framework conditions for renewable energies in Germany

• TREE – Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency – The Renewables Academy’s knowledge transfer project

• The CERINA Plan – An alternative to the Kyoto instrument

Welcoming message from the International Renewable EnergyAgency (IRENA)

Hélène PelosseInternational RenewableEnergy Agency (IRENA)United Arab [email protected]


Allow me to begin by thanking the RenewableEnergy Research Association for organising thisconference and for their kind invitation. I amdelighted to be able to discuss research deve-lopments and technologies related to renewableenergies with you today.

It is true to say that 2009 marks a turning pointin the development and spread of renewableenergies. 52 years after the foundation of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency and 36 years after the foundation of the Internatio-nal Energy Agency, the International RenewableEnergy Agency (IRENA) was founded in Bonn inJanuary 2009. IRENA, the first international organisation that will concentrate solely on thepromotion of renewable energies, is to becomea voice for renewable energies that will beheard all over the world.

It is a pleasure to speak to you today as the firstInterim Director-General of IRENA. Allow me tosay a few words about our still very young organisation.

Locations and members

In June 2009, the members of IRENA selectedthe United Arab Emirates as the location of theIRENA secretariat. In addition, a Technology andInnovation Centre will be established in Bonnand a Liaison Office to interact with internatio-nal organisations will be set up in Vienna.

The interim headquarters in Abu Dhabi willsoon move to Masdar City – the first almostcompletely CO2-free city, which will exclusivelyuse renewable energy sources to meet itsenergy requirements. The fact that the sixth-biggest producer of oil in the world has com-

mitted itself to renewable energies shows thatwe have achieved global agreement on theneed for an energy revolution – away from carbon-based energy supply that impacts negatively on the environment, and towards su-stainable and clean harnessing of energy.

Just this morning, the EU Commission becamethe 138th member to join IRENA. The highnumber of members achieved within such ashort time demonstrates just how important theissue of renewable energies has become tomember states. They are a must for developing,emerging and industrialised countries, regard-less of whether states are rich or poor in rawmaterials. With renewable energies, dependen-cies on fossil fuels can be reduced and the various targets that have been set for climateprotection can be achieved. Renewable energiesare a “must” if climate change is to be kept incheck.

IRENA’s tasks

The expansion and growth of renewable energies in recent years has been considerable.Worldwide investments in clean energy techno-logies amounted to the considerable sum of120 billion US dollars in 2008.1 As a further example, solar energy capacities were increasedby a factor of six between 2004 and 2008 toreach 16 gigawatts, and those of wind powerwere increased by 250% to 121 gigawatts. Inaddition, numerous states have now created thenecessary political framework conditions, suchas feed-in acts, in order to support renewableenergies.2

30

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009 Pelosse • IRENA

1 See Global Status Report 2009, page 14.2 Global Status Report 2009, page 8.

Despite the sometimes positive trends in theworldwide use of renewable energies, there arestill currently serious barriers to the spread ofclean fuels in place. These include long permis-sion procedures, import duties and technicalbarriers, uncertain financing for renewableenergy projects, centralised infrastructure, andinsufficient awareness of the possible applicati-ons of renewable energies.

IRENA will help to dismantle these barriers. Inorder to promote the expansion and sustainableuse of renewable energies worldwide, IRENAwill be offering its members practical help. Thiswill include the provision of relevant informa-tion on the subject of renewable energies, including analyses of potential and scenarios,best-practice examples and effective financingmechanisms. The Agency will also be providingcapacity building, training, workshops and policy advice. It will be facilitating the transferof knowledge and technology, and will be providing help with the improvement of political framework conditions.

Initial activities

IRENA is currently in the process of establishingitself. We are working tirelessly to recruit qualified staff and complete the organisationaland structural infrastructure at our headquar-ters. Despite these start-up steps, the Agencyhas already begun its initial activities. For example, it has set up a working group underthe leadership of the DLR that will consider thepotential of and scenarios for renewable ener-gies. Among its other tasks, the working groupwill prepare an appraisal of the current globalpotential of all renewable energy sources. In addition, scenarios are to be developed thatshow how a changeover from the currentenergy supply system to an energy systembased on renewable energies can be implemented.

The sudden death of the project leader WolframKrewitt came as a shock to us. I would like totake this opportunity to express my sincere condolences to his colleagues and, in particular,to his family and friends.

As an additional activity, IRENA is advising theKingdom of Tonga with regard to the electrifica-tion of its outer islands using renewable energysources.

IRENA has also conducted workshops on the topics of capacity building and knowledge management. These workshops analysed tried-and-tested methods and identified needs andknowledge gaps.

Another focus was the dialogue with a largenumber of stakeholders and other internationalorganisations in the field of energy (e.g.UNIDO, IEA, UNFCCC, IPCC), NGOs and net-works in the renewables sector in order to investigate the possibility of cooperations andpartnerships.

IRENA will be cooperating with Ren 21, EREC/Greenpeace and the IEA to organise a side eventat the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen on 15 December. Under themotto “Renewable Energy – Our Chance to Mitigate Climate Change”, IRENA and its partners will be presenting renewable energyscenarios and showing how renewables cancontribute to achieving CO2-reduction goalsand placing energy supply on a secure basis.

Activities in the area of research

In future, IRENA will be focussing increasinglyon the area of research. In the light of increa-sing trade volumes worldwide and strong increases in the numbers of automobiles, IRENAwill be promoting research on electrical drivesystems in the transport sector in particular.Overall, IRENA will be working towards a gradual reduction in the production costs of renewable energies so that they become competitive on the market as quickly as possibleand are no longer dependent on subventions.

A major amount of research continues to be necessary, particularly in the area of technolo-gies that are not yet competitive or are not yetready for the market. These needs must be addressed quickly.

31

FVEE • AEE Topics 2009Pelosse • IRENA

In order to further support our work, our long-term aim is that IRENA be advised by a scientificadvisory board. We are working to establishcontacts with the leading research institutions.All research institutes represented here are alsocordially invited to work with us. Alongside itse-learning programmes, IRENA will also be offering stipends for academics who wish towork on renewable energies in order to promote young talent in this area.

IRENA will be expanding its activities in the research sector by actively influencing the direction of further research. In its role as a global voice for renewable energies, IRENA willbe distributing the latest research findings, communicating them to the relevant stake-holders and basing its ongoing activities onthese findings.

With the study of potentials, IRENA wishes togive every country the opportunity to calculateits own renewables technology mix that offersthe most promise. In this way, every countryshould be put in a position to create its own“technological roadmap” on the path to morerenewable energies.

It is my own personal aim to help the poorest ofthe poor. For this reason, IRENA will initiate thedevelopment of an affordable PV application.Already today, there are Solar Home Systems(SHS) that start at $300. Our goal is to reducethis price by 50% in the near future, to beginseries production of these SHS, and to identifysuitable distribution channels for them. There isalready a competition for this organised by theFraunhofer ISE in Freiburg.

I am pleased that the conference programme isdealing with the investigation and further development of renewables technologies. Theplenary session – which consists of players frompolitics, excellent research institutes and the private sector – gathers together highly qualified experts, investors and decision-makers.I am certain that only effective cooperation between these players will result in progress indevelopment and thus contribute to solving theworld’s climate and energy supply problems.

We must ensure that international research co-operation is expanded so that the opportunityto develop technologies on a global scale andadapt them regionally, as mentioned by Prof. Staiß in the invitation, can be realised.IRENA will be happy to participate in these efforts and invites all involved to work togetherclosely.

To close, allow me to make another “personal”appeal to everyone present. I call uponeveryone – and in particular on women – whoshares IRENA’s goals and is interested in working with IRENA to apply to the secretariatin Abu Dhabi. It is my explicit goal to employ atleast 50% women at IRENA.

I thank the organisers for the opportunity tospeak to you today. I wish you all a successfulconference.

Pelosse • IRENA

32


The global research market for renewable energies: Competitionand technology partnerships

Humankind is faced with a double global challenge from the scarcity of fossil fuels, whichhas already begun, and from the risks to thebasis for human life due to the increase in CO2in the atmosphere to values that our planet hasnot seen for a million years.

This challenge can still be met today, but the“window of opportunity” for avoiding drasticnegative effects on the world’s economies –dueto the steep rise in energy prices and the consequences of an unstable climate withdroughts and storms of unprecedented strength– will probably only remain open for another10-15 years. For this reason, urgent and decisiveaction is the order of the day.

The world was concentrating in vain on achieving agreement on the values for the targeted reduction in national CO2 emissions atthe failed COP 15 Climate Conference in Copenhagen in 2009, but an alternative positive target would appear to be easier to implement politically and thus ultimately moreeffective. This reorientation of global climatepolicy could concentrate on two goals:

• Increasing the share of renewable energiesin the national and global energy mix

• Increasing energy efficiency, e.g. as expres-sed by the ratio of energy consumption tothe value created nationally

Even though CO2-reduction targets are difficultto achieve in countries such as the USA or emerging countries such as China or India,these types of positive goals are readily under-stood and even contribute to the creation ofjobs in sophisticated technology sectors. TheEuropean 20-20-20 scenario already containsthe goal of 20% of renewable energy in finalenergy consumption by 2020, which shouldcertainly be extended to a goal of 80-100% by2050.

No targets have yet been established for energyefficiency, but they can easily be formulatedbased on current energy intensity values(kWh/k€ of gross domestic product). The aimof these calculations must be to formulate a global model that also makes it possible toachieve CO2 goals. In the IPCC’s 2007 report, itis shown that the world can afford another 750 Gt of CO2 emissions if global warming ofover 2 °C is to be avoided; this is not a largeamount in the light of the current annual emissions level of around 30-35 Gt.

A rapid increase in the share of renewable energies in the energy mix and improvementsin energy efficiency both require active researchand development in these technology-relatedfields. There is still much research needed, bothnationally in Germany and globally.

Figure 1 shows German expenditure on energyresearch in the last 35 years. The maximum was€2.4 billion in 1982, spent mostly on nuclearfission research and research on coal and otherfossil fuels. Current research expenditure is onlyaround one-third of this maximum, and of thisamount, only a third again, i.e. around €200million, is directly associated with renewableenergies.

Figure 2 shows that this amount has remainedapproximately constant over the last 30 years;in 2003, it still corresponded to 2.2% of the turnover of the sector, but the figure was only0.9% in 2008.

Prof. Weber, Stryi-Hipp • The global research market

33


Prof. Dr. Eicke R.WeberFraunhofer ISE [email protected]

Gerhard Stryi-HippFraunhofer ISE [email protected]

Figure 1German federal government expenditure on energyresearch

Figure 2German federal government expenditure on research and turnoverwith renewable energies

An improvement to over €300 million appearslikely for 2009, also due in particular to invest-ments in offshore wind. However, it remains tobe seen if the research budget for renewableenergies that was recently increased in 2009 willcontinue at the present level.

It can thus be observed that the global challen-ges outlined above have not yet resulted inlong-term increases in budgets for the research

necessary to develop new, more efficient andmore cost-effective energy technologies.

The impressive growth in this sector, which wasstimulated to a significant extent by the financi-ally attractive feed-in tariffs for renewable ener -gies specified in the German Renewable EnergySources Act (EEG), even led to a significantly reducing percentage for state research expendi-ture as a fraction of the turnover of the sector.


34


2009: Energy Research: 979 Mio. €, including Nuclear Fission: 205 Mio. € + 284 Mio. € (removal) (50%)Nuclear Fusion: 135 Mio. € (14%), Renewable Energy: 323 Mio. € (33%)

Renewable EnergyCoal, Fossile EnergyNuclear EnergyRemoval of Nuclear Power PlantsNuclear Fusion

19801975 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

2400

2000

1600

1200

800

400

0

German government expenditure on energy research

(Mio.€)

19801975 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005

30.000

25.000

20.000

15.000

10.000

5.0000

400200

0

(Mio.€)

2008: 0.9 % turnover in RE

2003: 2.2 % turnover in RE

Turnover due to the operation of RE plantsTurnover due to the installation of RE plantsGerman federal government expenditure on research

Figure 3 shows that photovoltaics grew particu-larly quickly – from a 0.9% share of renewableenergies in 2000 to as much as 8.9% in 2006 –in the context of the rapidly increasing powercapacities for renewables that tripled between2000 and 2006 in Germany to reach 30 GW.This is not surprising when you consider thatphotovoltaic technology is a semi-conductortechnology which is experiencing a continuousincrease in performance accompanied by pricereductions, in a manner similar to the develop-ment of microelectronics over the last 50 years.

The learning curve for photovoltaics over thelast 25 years (Figure 4) shows a continuous reduction in prices of approximately 20% forevery doubling of the installed amount. A special development in photovoltaic technologyhas taken place in recent years: Global demandfor PV modules was so strong in the years between 2003 and 2008 that system supplierscould essentially pick and choose the clientsthat they wished to supply. Despite huge ratio-nalisation gains at manufacturing companies,the prices remained constant and the rapidly increasing profits were mainly invested inquickly expanding capacity, which was neces-sary and also politically desired. The economic


35


Wind energy

Hydro power

Biomass

Photovoltaics

53.4%

39.9%

0.9%

5.8%

15.2%

9.2%

8.9%

66.8%

2006:30 893 MW

2000:11 448 MW

25%

Installed Peak Capacity (accumulated) [GWp]

2010 2020

1980

1990

20002004

2007

(30%)

10210-1 110-210-310-4 10 103

d [mm] = 400 300 200 100 50

15 18 20

22%

hcell [%] = 10

100

10

0

[€/Wp]

Figure 3German federal government expenditure on research and turnoverwith renewable energies

Figure 4Price learning curve forPV modules made fromcrystalline silicon

crisis of the last 18 months has led to a signifi-cant cooling-off in the market, and it is inter-esting to note that the extrapolated learningcurve of the last 30 years now applies againthanks to significant price reductions in 2009.

The continuation of this learning curve or evenacceleration along it is possible, but this wouldrequire funding for application-oriented research and development to increase in linewith sector turnover. In parallel, expenditure onfundamental research and development wouldalso have to increase as unexpected break-throughs are always possible – e.g. in the areaof organic solar cells.

In principle, research on all types of renewableenergies and on energy efficiency for buildings,transport and production should be supported.However, certain areas are worthy of particularattention: photovoltaics; the conversion of solarthermal energy; wind energy; energy optimisa-tion of buildings; electromobility and the closelyrelated development of electrical storage devices. This should be accompanied by the development of new, intelligent energy-distribu-tion grids which will allow for bi-directionalfeed-in and storage of electricity.

Photovoltaics have the potential to supply avery significant fraction of electricity generationin a renewable manner and with negligible operating costs in the long term. To achieve thisgoal, more cost-effective production methodsand continuously improving conversion efficien-cies are necessary. With system prices below€3/Wp, this technology can already competewith other renewable technologies such as concentrating solar thermal technology or offshore wind.

At the moment, thin-film technology and, inparticular, cadmium telluride (CdTe) technology– as supplied by First Solar and others – offer acost advantage, with module costs of less than€1/Wp being quoted. However, this cost advantage comes at the cost of significant disadvantages in conversion efficiency: While PV modules made from crystalline silicon currently have efficiencies of between 16% and21%, thin-film modules only achieve between8% and 11%, i.e. half as much.

Thin-film equipment offers advantages for large-scale systems on cheaply acquired land. How-ever, if the area available is limited, as in thecase of roof-mounted systems, good efficiencybecomes more important. A keen price war iscurrently in progress. In particular, manufactu-rers of solar cells made of crystalline silicon inGermany have to regard the prices of thin-filmtechnology as the target.

The advantage still enjoyed today by Germanand European technology is under seriousthreat, and a rapid increase in R&D expenditurein this area is essential for this reason.

The third significant PV technology is concen-trating PV, which uses high-efficiency solar cellswith conversion efficiencies of up to 41% anddegrees of concentration of up to 500; thistechnology is still in its initial stages, but has thepotential to achieve significant market shares insunny regions.

Solar thermal technology provides hot waterwithout using electricity generation as an inter-mediate step. There is further potential for im-provement here in operations management andin the manufacture of the vacuum collectorsthat are particularly necessary in zones withcooler climates.

Concentrating solar thermal technology is beingused increasingly for electricity generation insunny regions. This technology is particularly attractive in combination with heat storage, asmelted salt solutions make it possible to useheat stored during the day to generate electri-city at night too. In one of the latest develop-ments, work is being done on combining thistechnology with concentrating PV.

The harnessing of onshore wind is one of themost cost-effective renewable methods ofpower generation. However, good locations arelimited in both number and availability, meaning that significant growth is possible atthese locations only by repowering existingwind turbines with larger rotors.

Offshore wind presents a completely differentsituation: We are still faced with major techno-logical challenges here that demand intensive

36

Prof. Weber, Stryi-Hipp • The global research marketFVEE • AEE Topics 2009

research work – e.g. on large-scale equipmentextending into the 20-MW range, or in the areaof corrosion resistance.

The energy optimisation of existing buildingsand the development of innovative strategiesfor new buildings – right through to the MasdarCity project for a city that is completely self- sufficient as regards energy – offer huge poten-tial for increasing energy efficiencies, as morethan one-third of our energy consumption isused in buildings. The refurbishment of old buildings presents particular challenges, as thedevelopment of suitable technologies must beaccompanied by support from aids to marketintroduction here. These should make it possibleto distribute the short-term costs over the manyyears of energy use.

The increase in the use of renewable energies inthe transport sector has led to the birth of thefield of electromobility. Taking the lead from developments in Japan and China and with thesupport of significant state support program-mes, the German automobile industry is beginning to tackle this challenge. It remains tobe seen how and when hydrogen fuel-cell technology will make a breakthrough in thetransport sector.

The capacity of battery systems is already sufficient to drive plug-in hybrids with limitedelectric range and a combustion motor to in-crease range. With improved battery techno-logy, purely electric vehicles with sufficientrange will also become available. There is stillneed for major research here, both on the batteries themselves and on the energy management necessary for these systems.

The last item that should be mentioned here isthe transition required from the conventionalunidirectional electricity grid to a bi-directionalgrid with locally distributed intelligence. Withthis grid of the future, power consumers will beable to adapt to fluctuating electricity pricesand will switch on significant loads when theprice is the lowest – e.g. when sufficient windpower is being fed in. At the same time, consu-mers will also be able to feed in power fromwind or solar systems or from the batteries ofelectric cars, which of course only need to befully charged when the customer actually wantsto use their car. The power grid of the futurewill also require transmission technology forlong distances in the form of high-voltage directcurrent transmission in order to connect sunnyregions in the south, windy and water-rich regi-ons in the north, and the customers.


37


Figure 5Energy research budgets worldwide

Expenditure on energy research by IEA countries 2008

3512

4000

3500

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0

• Renewable energies only accounted for13% of the total energy research budgets of IEA states in 2008.

• In international comparison, Germanyhas the highest share of the energy research budget, but this still amountsto only 33%, while nuclear energy research (including fusion and waste)has 64%.

• Germany is responsible for only 5% ofthe energy research spending of the IEA countries, Japan 28%, USA 31%.

• When related to gross domestic product, Germany spends €0.20 per€1,000 of GDP (USA €0.25, Japan€0.72).

3743

11981131

Andere IEA-LänderUSAJapanDeutschland

fossileenergy

renewableenergy

nuclearenergy

other energy

This brief outline of an energy system of the future shows up many areas where considerableresearch is necessary. In order to achieve the climate protection targets in time, it is essentialthat technology expertise be developed moreintensively worldwide. However, this can onlyhappen successfully if funding for this researcharea increases significantly.

Figure 5 shows that research on renewable energies is only responsible for 13% of theenergy research budget of all countries in theInternational Energy Agency (IEA). When relatedto gross domestic product, Germany spends€0.20 per €1,000 of GDP on research and isthus behind the USA (€0.25) and far behindJapan (€0.72). In the USA, spending on PV research alone was almost doubled from $135million in 2008 to $260 million in 2009, andthis figure is set to rise to $320 million in 2010.In addition, around $800 million is to be spenton 46 Energy Frontier Centers in the next fiveyears, with eleven of these concentrating on PV.

In Europe, close technology partnerships havealready been initiated in the area of silicon PVtechnology by European programmes such asCrystal Clear. Unfortunately, the opportunity hasbeen missed to establish a Knowledge and Innovation Center (KIC) for renewable energiesas part of the European Institute of Technology.Nonetheless, it can be expected that further relevant programmes will be part of the 8th

EU Framework Programme at the latest. Trans-atlantic technology partnership will also bestrengthened. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft hasalready established the rapidly developing Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) atMIT in Boston, and the German Federal Research Minster Annette Schavan has signedthe first transatlantic agreement on technologi-cal cooperation, particularly in the area ofrenew-able energies.

The challenge to humankind is a clearly globalone, and for this reason technology expertisemust also be bundled globally. The countriesthat tackle this process the most effectively –and Germany is clearly one of the leaders here –will reap the greatest economic benefits.

On the other hand, growing interest – in Asia,in particular – will result in keener competition.If Germany does not respond to this competi-tion with the necessary level of effort in the areaof research and development, it is possible thatwe will lose our position of technological leader-ship – something that has already been obser-ved in the past with other key technologies suchas microelectronics.


38


The energy and research policy framework conditions for renewableenergies in Germany

For 20 years now, Germany has been expandingrenewable energies with the support of state incentive instruments. What is the reasoning behind the systematic retention and refinementof these instruments over this period with theaim of creating a reliable basis for the successfuldevelopment of renewable energies?

Reasons for the promotion of renewable energies in Germany

Germany is dependent on energy imports to aconsiderable degree. Almost three-quarters ofthe total energy consumed must be importedfrom abroad. The dependence on a small num-ber of supplier countries – e.g. Russia – is increa-sing. The risk of political dependencies due tothe increasing importance of energy is thus alsoincreasing. Reducing the dependency on imports is thus an important aim of Germanenergy policy.

With a share of around 10% for renewable energies in the German energy mix (2008), Germany has indeed made good progress, asrenewable energy sources are largely domestic.However, the high share of 90% for fossil fuelsprovides motivation to further speed up theshifting of energy production in favour of renewable energy sources.

Another reason for supporting renewable energies is the inability of the free market to integrate the high consequential costs of climate change into current energy prices. Thecosts of environmental damage, damage to health, the disposal of waste from nuclear andcoal-fired power plants, and the costs of securitymeasures and of conflicts for energy raw materi-als are not yet reflected in our energy prices toan appropriate degree. Support for renewableenergies, which would avoid the majority of theconsequential costs described in the first place,thus helps avoid financial burdens on future generations.

Jörg MayerGerman RenewableEnergy Agency [email protected]

Figure 1 Targets for the expansion of renew-able energies in Germany up to 2020

Source: German Federal Ministry for the Environment(2009)

Mayer • Energy and research policy framework conditions

39

cross powerconsumption

final energyheat

final energyfuels

2008

TWh

2020 2008 2020 2008 2020

other energy sources

renewable energy 15.1% >30%5.9% 12%

1,500

1,200

900

600

300

14%7.4%


Figure 2 Turnover for the renewable energiessector in Germany

Source: German RenewableEnergy Agency

The European Union has set binding targets forthe expansion of renewable energies by theyear 2020. Member states must achieve a totalof 20% of their energy supply from renewableenergy sources. Germany, with 18%, is slightlybelow the average. The German figure is madeup of a share of at least 30% of power genera-tion, 14% of heat provision and 12% of fuelsupply.

However, the main reason for the promotion ofrenewable energies in Germany is the econo-mic-technological factor. With the introductionof Germany’s Electricity Feed-in Act in 1990 andits development into the Renewable EnergySources Act (EEG) that came into force in April2000, a strong new industry gradually establis-hed itself. The fact that renewable energy technologies have been able to compete on themarket has led to economies of scale and in-creases in efficiency. State support has meantthat German companies have been able to establish a technological advantage that will become increasingly important in the light offuture climate protection agreements. In 2008,German companies achieved turnover of almost€29 billion from the installation and operationof equipment and another €12 billion from exports.

The innovations that have resulted are nowavailable to the whole world in order to reduceCO2 or help even the smallest units in developing countries to achieve self-sufficiencyof energy supply.

Technologies that are close to being market-ready are supported by incentive systems suchas electricity feed-in tariffs, premium models orfuel quotas; other technologies that are not yetready for the market require fundamental research that is mainly conducted by scientificinstitutes and universities.

Development of research support

Since 1973, the German federal governmenthas been preparing energy research program-mes. The currently applicable, fifth energy re-search programme is entitled “Innovation andnew technologies”. It was initially intended tocover the period 2005 to 2008, and was thenextended to 31/12/2010.

In the initial period up to 2008, the programmewas given a support budget for fundamental research of €1.7 billion. Although support forrenewable energies and energy efficiency grew– at a low level – up to 2008, most of Germany’s research funding is still spent on nu-clear technologies, including the decommissio-ning of plants and research on nuclear fusion.

The four federal ministries responsible forenergy issues – i.e. the Ministries of Research,the Environment, Economics and Agriculture –spent a total of €161.2 million in 2008 on insti-tutional support and support for specific renew-


40


2000

2.4

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

Mrd. Euro

4.5

2001

3.1

5.2

2002

3.5

6.0

2003

3.9

6.1

2004

2.5

5.0

6.5

2005

4.6

7.8

10.3

2006

6.0

11.3

11.6

2007

9.0

14.5

11.0

2008 2012 2020

12

15.6

13.1

22

35

80

60

Export

Operation of REpowered installations

Construction of REpowered installations

able energies projects. This funding was usedfor the following purposes:

1. Reduction of costs by increasing efficiencyand achieving economies of scales by opti-mising production processes and improvingproduct lifecycles

2. Development of new technologies

3. Sustainable expansion of renewable energiesby investigating ecological and social effects

Technologies for system integration and windpower are becoming more important as part ofthe project support. Photovoltaics had a 44.1%share of the budget in the 2005-2008 supportperiod, but this figure dropped to 26.3% forproject support approved in 2008. On the otherhand, the area of system integration has nowgrown from around 0% to 18.7%, while thewind power area has increased from 21% to26.6% driven mainly by offshore wind power.This development shows that the processing oflarge amounts of energy, the storage associatedwith this, and the intelligent control of energyconsumption are becoming increasingly important.

Conversely, less support is being provided forfundamental research as the various technolo-gies become more competitive on the market.In this phase, market incentive instruments become technology and innovation drivers. TheGerman Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG),which provides for defined tariffs over a periodof 20 years for electricity fed in from renewablesources, has proven one of the most successfulsupport measures worldwide.

How the feed-in tariff works

The German Renewable Energy Sources Act(EEG) came into force on 1 April 2000, and hasbeen the most important factor in the increaseof the share of renewable energy sources in theelectricity supply from around 6% initially toabout 16% in 2009. The act follows the principle of cost-covering remuneration, and forthis reason it must be monitored and updatedcontinuously.

The five core elements of the EEG were definedafter a ten-year learning period (1990-2000)with the Electricity Feed-in Act, which was thepredecessor of the EEG, and they continue toapply today:

• Priority for EEG electricity: Every system forthe generation of electricity from renewablesources must be connected to the electricitygrid by grid operators. Every kWh of electri-city may be fed into the grid and is transmit-ted to consumers.

• Defined remuneration: Every kWh of elec-tricity from renewable energy sources recei-ves a guaranteed tariff, which in turn makesit possible to calculate the payback periodfor the investment in equipment.

• Long period of applicability: The remune-ration applies for a 20-year period, whichgives investors a high degree of yield security. During this period, operators arefree to opt out of EEG tariffs or opt back inagain, depending on whether higher pricescan be obtained on the open market.

• Technology-specific support: Each techno-logy offers different advantages that cannotonly be measured in terms of current econo-mic performance. The other factors includethe maturity of the technology, the techno-logy’s potential for the future, the suitabilityfor the location, and issues relating to land-scape and nature conservation. The principleis thus to support each technology (PV,wind, biomass, ...) with its own different tariffs in order to cover the respective costsof each technology.

• Degression: In order to speed up learning effects and avoid windfall gains, an annualreduction of the initial tariff has been specified. This innovation pressure helps alltechnologies to gradually approach grid parity, i.e. a price level which reflects thatpaid by end users.

A significant factor in the EEG’s success hasbeen and continues to be the fact that it is inde-pendent of the government’s current budgetarypolicy. As the feed-in tariffs are fully financed bya levy system between producers, grid opera-tors and consumers, there is no “EEG budget”


41


that is subject to the whims of overall budgetarydecisions.

This situation also helps provide the financial security desired by investors for the develop-ment of larger projects. This independencemust continue as it is.

Costs and benefits of the EEG

Additional costs for society as a whole are ofcourse also associated with the EEG, as it com-pensates for the difference between the lowermarket price for conventional energies and thecosts for renewable energies. If the entire EEGlevy of €4.5 billion for 2008 is considered perkWh unit of electricity, every consumer had topay an extra 1.1 cents, which represents around5% of the average consumer electricity price.When this figure is considered per average household in Germany, additional costs ofaround €3 per month arose.

On the other hand, the support for renewableenergies has led to a remarkable boom for theindustry. Alongside the €40 billion in turnover

thanks to investments, operation and exports,the sector has also created 280,000 jobs so far.

Equipment efficiencies have increased signifi-cantly. For example, modern wind turbines nowproduce 50 times more electricity than turbinesin 1990 did, thanks to innovative technology,larger rotor diameters and greater hub heights.

The CO2 emissions avoided by renewable energies in 2008 amount to around 72 milliontonnes for the electricity sector alone. If the CO2emissions avoided by the heating and fuel sec-tors are also included, around 110 million ton-nes of CO2 in the atmosphere have beenavoided. No other climate protection instru-ment apart from support for renewables canboast similarly high levels of CO2 savings. Thespecific costs of the savings per tonne of CO2differ and are higher than for other measures incertain cases; however, the potential for deve-lopment and cost reductions for these technolo-gies is great, and the demand envisaged on theworld markets is immense too.

Germany’s systematic support for research is indeed showing the way: Technologies that are

Figure 3 Make-up of the average consumerelectricity price in Germany in 2009

Source: BDEW (2009)


42


Average Consumer Electricity Price 2009Support for RE generates only a very small share of the average electricity price.

generation6.9 ct (29%)

grid fee5.9 ct (26%)

VAT3.7 ct (16%)

contribution to cogenera-tion of heat and power0.2 ct (1%)

sales and distribution0.8 ct (3%)measuring0.8 ct (3%)

support for RE by EEG1.1 ct (5%)

concession levy1.8 ct (8%)

electricity tax2.0 ct (9%)

Figure 4 CO2 avoidance thanksto renewable energiesin Germany in 2008

Source: “Renewable energysources in figures – nationaland international develop-ment” brochure from theGerman Federal Ministry forthe Environment (2009)

not market-ready are developed by means offundamental research, and technologies close tomarket maturity are launched with the help ofincentives and are then subject to innovationcycles.

However, two weaknesses can be identified:With current funding of €161 million, funda-mental research is not receiving the same levelof financial support as in the USA or Japan,which are investing more heavily in their research capacity in the area of renewable energies. In addition, more effective research incentives must be developed in the areas ofheat and fuels, which could potentially makemajor contributions to climate protection, inorder to make progress here more quickly.


43


Berthold Breid Renewables Academy AG(RENAC)Schönhauser Allee 10-1110119 [email protected]

TREE – Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency – The Renewables Academy’s knowledge transfer project

More and more governments worldwide aresetting ambitious targets for the expansion ofrenewable energies. The diversification of theenergy mix by increasing the share of renew-able energy sources is not only critical for thereduction of CO2 emissions, but also offers anopportunity to harness new economic potential,particularly for numerous developing and emer-ging countries as these countries often have significant natural resources. Renewable ener-gies offer secure energy supply and can stabiliseelectricity grids, even with a continuously growing energy demand. In subsidised energymarkets, falling energy imports give the exchequer greater room for financial mano-euvre.

One difficulty with the practical implementationof expansion targets is that specialist knowledgeis required for the successful and, above all,speedy development of the renewable energysector.

Ministries have to develop laws and regulations,decision-makers from the private sector are indemand for the financing of equipment, theanalysis of viability and the management ofcomplex project processes, and engineers andtechnicians are needed for engineering designand for installation and maintenance. A lack ofexpertise at one of the bodies involved canquickly lead to a bottleneck in the value-addedchain.

The TREE project (Transfer Renewable Energy &Efficiency) initiated by the Renewables Academyis implementing international knowledge trans-fer where all key participants are involved. Semi-nars on capacity building, which are availablefor various levels, provide decision-makers onpolicy and economic matters from developingcountries, emerging countries and transition

countries with the expertise necessary to implement renewable energy technologies in afast and sustainable manner.

Other countries should benefit from Germany’sexperience in the last 20 years with the creationof suitable policy framework conditions andeconomic incentive mechanisms, the harnessingof financing methods, the establishment ofcommercial expertise and the implementationof technologies.

TREE is being supported by the German FederalMinistry for the Environment, Nature Conserva-tion and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of the International Climate Protection Initiative, as decided by the German Bundestag. Incomefrom the sale of CO2 certificates for emissionstrading is invested in national and internationalclimate protection measures.

In 2008 and 2009, a total of 170 projects wereinitiated in developing, emerging and transitioncountries. TREE is one of these projects that aimto make cost-effective use of existing potentialfor the reduction of emissions and also to demonstrate the technological feasibility of in-novative model projects for climate protection.Increasing energy efficiency, expanding renew -able energies and the transfer of knowledge areall supported in a targeted manner.

RENAC offers seminar stipends for participationin TREE seminars on solar energy, wind power,bioenergy and energy efficiency technologies.The most important selection criterion is thatthe applicants be able to apply the knowledgethey acquire in their everyday work as directlyas possible and that they pass on thisknowledge as widely as possible.

Breid • TREE

44


However, other factors such as motivation, levelof qualification and English-language skills alsoplay a role.

In order to teach the principles of clean energysupply in the long term, the educational con-cept behind TREE is structured in a multi-dimen-sional manner. With the one-week introductoryseminars in Berlin, every target group can learnabout the technology aspects relevant to them:After an introduction to technology issues, deci-sion-makers on policy and economic issues canlearn more about the structuring of frameworkconditions, about project financing and management, and about economic viability,market entry, legal and insurance matters rela-ted to renewable energies. For engineers, thefocus is on planning, installation, maintenanceand quality management for equipment. Indivi-dual issues can be dealt with in more detail inlater specialised seminars that build on the introductory seminars. Certain courses are alsoconducted in the target countries.

These seminars are then followed by an e-learning phase. In cooperation with the BeuthUniversity of Applied Sciences in Berlin, RENAChas set up an online learning portal that partici-pants can use to complete specialised seminars.In addition, participants can also use the onlineadvice facilities to obtain suggestions and tipsfrom lecturers on practical projects. Further services are also available in addition to the learning services – e.g. a series of publicationsfor ministry staff regarding legal aspects of renewable energies or a mobile exhibition thatoffers a closer look at various technologies.

TREE was started in November 2008. In the firstyear, the 560 participants in total came from 14 countries in South America, Africa and Asia.This year, the states that have signed the IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) statute and those from the MENA region canalso participate, i.e. a total of almost 100 countries.

The thematic focus this year is the training ofproject developers from industry and privatesector service-providers, as the economicstrength of a given country is increased whenthe prerequisites for investments are created

and new areas of activity in energy efficiencyand renewable energies are established. Sincesuitable policy framework conditions are theprerequisite for this, there is also a focus oncourses for decision-makers on policy and repre-sentatives from specialist committees in the legislature area.

The training offered as part of TREE supportsparticipants in expanding capacities in theirown participating countries. The crucial elementhere is not only the transfer of knowledge, butalso the initiation of international dialogue.

Participants in thecourses for decision-makers familiarisethemselves with requirements as re-gards policy frameworklegislation.

The RENAC trainingcentre has a widerange of equipmentfrom the areas of solarthermal energy, photo-voltaics, wind powerand energy efficiencyfor practical exercises.

Practical installationcan also be practisedin the photovoltaicscourses.

Breid • TREE

45


TREE 2009: Countriesand number of participants

Institutional background of TREEapplicants,2008/2009

The TREE seminars in Berlin represent an opportunity for participants from various conti-nents to meet and exchange their experience.And they can stay in contact with the help ofthe TREE Community, and can discuss currentproblems or projects and thus ultimately contribute to the progress of the expansion ofrenewable energies in their own country thanksto the support of a worldwide network.

The project is being supported by the GermanFederal Ministry for the Environment:Additional information:

Weitere Informationen:www.tree-project.dewww.renac.de

Breid • TREE

46


Institutional background of TREE applicants, 2008/2009

Argentina 5 3 1 2 0Brazil 72 24 8 13 3Chile 62 100 13 4 10 83China 106 13 4 6 3India 66 22 8 9 5Indonesia 59 19 3 8 8Jordani 56 80 8 13 1 62Malaysia 82 26 9 8 9Mexico 68 21 8 7 6Namibia 47 54 9 13 0 42Peru 35 88 2 10 2 81Philipines 42 18 6 8 4South Africa 57 70 18 8 2 47Thailand 77 20 10 7 3Total 834 558 107 116 56 315*

Total participants in seminars in Berlin and regional CSP seminars: 558

Participants in CSP seminars are not taken into account in the “Applicants” category, and some have also taken part in seminars for engineers and decision-makers.

Country Applicants Total Engineers Decision- Specialised Regionalparticipants makers seminars CSP seminars

government/administration

research and teaching

companies

NGO

other

Tables Seminars

Breid • TREE

47


Brief description: Participants in these courses will receive a comprehensive overview of the most importanttechnologies, how they work, and their possible applications. Strategies for the development of suitable frame-work conditions will be identified and financing instruments will be explained. Participants will be able tocreate important stimuli for the use of renewables and energy efficiency technologies in their own countries.

Topics• Renewables (grid-connected) and energy efficiency: technologies, framework conditions, financing• Rural electrification: technologies, framework conditions, financing

Number of seminars: 4 Duration: 5 days Location: Berlin

Overview seminars for policy decision-makers

Brief description: In these seminars, the lifecycle of renewables and energy efficiency applications will behighlighted in various project phases and from the perspective of various participants such as financers, pro-ject developers, legal specialists and operators. Existing systems will be compared and analysed. Participantswill be given specialist knowledge on technology, costs, financing, legal aspects, quality assurance and the necessary framework conditions.

Topics• Grid-connected photovoltaics• Photovoltaic stand-alone systems (including examples of applications in water management)• Biogas and biofuels• Wind power (large-scale and small-scale)• Solar thermal energy (large-scale and small-scale)• Energy efficiency in industry and commerce, in the building sector and in the water sector• Hybrid systems

Number of seminars: 7 Duration: 5 days Location: Berlin

Technology-specific specialised seminars for policy decision-makers

Brief description: The participants will acquire knowledge about the CSP technologies currently available, the state of the art in technology, and about possible applications. They will develop an understanding of themost important implementation steps and the main factors influencing the success of a CSP project.

Topics• Prerequisites, technologies, project management, costs, financing, local value creation, grid connection and operation of solar thermal power plants

Number of seminars: 3Duration: 3 daysLocation: Abu Dhabi, Mexico, India

CSP seminars for engineers and decision-makers from the areas of policy and business

Brief description: The seminars aim to support investments in renewables and energy efficiency projects byproviding training for financers and project developers. Economic analyses of various technologies and of various application conditions are presented, and viability analyses, financing mechanisms and examples areintroduced.

Topics• Financing for renewables and energy efficiency with technical introduction, cost calculations, examples offinancing

Number of seminars: 4Duration: 2 daysLocation: Malaysia, Abu Dhabi, South Africa, Mexico

Seminars for financers and project developers

The CERINA Plan – An alternative tothe Kyoto instrument

1. Introduction

International negotiations on a follow-up agree-ment for the Kyoto Protocol, which will expirein 2012, have stalled to a significant extent andit is currently not expected that agreement willbe reached in Copenhagen. The Kyoto instru-ment is essentially based on the approach of limiting the CO2 emissions of individual countries, with the amounts ideally agreedupon by the international community. An alternative instrument, the CERINA Plan (CO2Emissions and Renewable Investment ActionPlan), will be presented here. Its model approach is based on investments rather thansetting limits.

2. Worldwide CO2 emissions –the status quo

Global carbon dioxide emissions in 2008 rose toa new record value of 31.5 billion tonnes andare thus 40% above the level of 1990 (IWR2009). The goal of the Kyoto Protocol was to reduce emissions in Kyoto countries by 5.2% by2012 relative to the reference year of 1990(UNFCCC 1998). However, emissions have risenconsiderably worldwide because of economicdevelopment in numerous emerging countries.This outcome is evidence that the Kyoto limitmechanism does not work. One cause that canbe identified is the fact that political representa-tives cannot or do not wish to accept economiclimitations for their own countries in negotiati-ons in connection with climate protection. Resistance in their home countries to upper limits and emissions trading with the threat of

Dr. Allnoch • The CERINA Plan

48


35000

30000

25000

20000

1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008

Global CO2 emissions [Mio. t]

Dr. Norbert [email protected]

Economic Platform forRenewable Energies(IWR)Soester Str. 1348155 MünsterGermanyTel. [email protected]

Worldwide CO2 emissions

companies moving abroad to new locations alllead to mistrust among politicians in the context of global competition for industrial investment.

This results in low levels of willingness to makevoluntary commitments. These are the reasonswhy it is not expected that a new climate pro-tection treaty will be agreed in Copenhagen.Even in the case of agreements between countries, the issues of whether and when CO2reductions will actually be implemented andwhat sanctions apply if targets are not reachedare still open. The example of the Kyoto Proto-col is evidence that these problems still remain.

3. The Cerina Plan – An alternative investmentapproach

The IWR approach is based on investments rather than setting limits. The basic principle ofthe CERINA Plan is to directly link CO2 emissionsof individual countries to investments in rene-wable energy. The higher a country’s CO2 emissions, the higher the investments they mustmake in renewable energy technologies. Everycountry emits CO2, which means that everycountry is obliged to take responsibility andmake a proportional contribution. The annualglobal increase in CO2 is known (in millions oftonnes), which means that the necessary invest-ments in renewable energy generation systems(electricity, heat, fuels) required to at least compensate, and thus slow down the globalCO2 increase, can be calculated retroactively.

In 2008, global investments in renewableenergy systems totalled €120 billion. In order tostabilise the CO2 emissions, the investmentswould have to be increased fourfold, to at least€500 billion per year, according to IWR calcula-tions.

The most important aspect of the CERINA Planis the distribution of the investments to the various countries, as determined by the CO2emission quantity in each country. The moreCO2 a country emits, the higher the invest-

ments required in the country. With total globalCO2 emissions of 31.5 billion tonnes, and investments totalling 500 billion euros requiredper year for renewable energies, this results in atheoretical CO2 offset price of €16 per tonne.The specific investments in renewable energytechnologies can be calculated for each countryaccording to the country-specific CO2 emissions.IWR calculated the investments in renewableplant technology required based on the indivi-dual CO2 emissions for a total of 65 countries.

Sample calculations

According to the CERINA Plan, China, whichcurrently has the world’s highest CO2 emissionsat 6.8 billion tonnes (2008), would have to initiate annual investments in renewable energytechnologies of 109 billion euros by means ofpolitical framework conditions to build wind,solar, hydroelectric or biomass-powered plants.India – with emissions of 1.4 billion tonnes ofCO2 – requires investments totalling 22.5 billioneuros, while Germany would have to invest 13.7 billion euros, for emissions of 860 milliontonnes. The CERINA Plan also takes smallercountries with lower emissions into account. Forexample, Hungary, with emissions of 60 milliontonnes (2008), would have to organise invest-ments of one billion euros, and New Zealandwould require investments of 600 million euros.

4. Outlook

Copenhagen is unlikely to produce a bindingclimate protection treaty. As an alternative tothe Kyoto instrument, the CERINA Plan offers anopportunity to establish a transparent, verifiableand clear system for the reduction of emissions.

The advantage of the CERINA model approachis that the direct linking mechanism gives eachcountry two types of action to take to fulfil theirobligations: They can either reduce emissions orincrease investments in renewable energies. Accordingly, countries with lower emission values make lower contributions than countrieswith higher emissions. Each country can selectthe option suitable for them. In the end, the increasing proportion of renewable energies orthe reduction of CO2 emissions via savings or


49


increased efficiency will result in a reduction of global emissions.

Further information and contact options:

www.cerina.orgwww.iwr.dewww.renewable-energy-industry.com

Bibliographie

IWR (2009): Monatsreport „Regenerative Energiewirtschaft“. Ausgabe 08/2009, Münster.(Online: www.iwrpressedienst.de/iwr/monats- report0809)

UNEP (2009): Global Trends in SustainableEnergy Investment. Analysis of Trends and Issuesin the Financing of Renewable Energy andEnergy Efficiency. Nairobi. (Online: www.unep.org/pdf/Global_trends_ report_2009.pdf)

UNFCCC (1998): Das Kyoto Protokoll zum Rahmenabkommen der Vereinten Nationenüber Klimaänderungen. Bonn. (Online: http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/convkp/kpger.pdf)


50


51

Research for global markets –Technology partnerships forrenewable energies

• The German federal government’s strategy for the internationalisation of science and research

• Off to new markets! – Renewable Energy Export Initiative

• Solar construction – Climate-appropriate construction inother climates

• Concentrating solar collectors for process heat and electricitygeneration

• Research on geothermal electricity generation – On-site laboratory at Groß Schönebeck

• Storing bioenergy and renewable electricity in the natural gas grid

• Solar thermal power plants – Export hits without a domesticmarket

• Concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) for countries with high direct irradiation

• Requirements for integration of wind energy into the grids of various countries

• Off-grid power supply and global electrification

The German federal government’sstrategy for the internationalisationof science and research

In addition to the opportunities, the globalisa-tion process also presents us with great challen-ges: Germany must maintain its internationaltechnological competitiveness; at the sametime, it shares the responsibility for preservingglobal stability and sustainable living conditions.Science and research are essential for both tasks.

Germany and the European Union have set atarget of investing 3% of their gross domesticproduct in research and development by 2010.We can only remain competitive in a world withan increasing number of competitors if we consistently work on the 3% target. In additionto the USA and Japan, China, India and Korea,as well as other former developing and emerging nations, are becoming new partnersand competitors.

Against this background, the federal govern-ment developed its strategy for the internatio-nalisation of science and research, which waspassed in February 2008 and is being continuedunder the current government. The strategypursues four main objectives:

• Enhancing cooperation in research with theworld’s best.

• Availing of innovation potential internatio-nally:This includes German companies establishingpartnerships with leading international high-tech locations and R&D centres.

• Enhancing long-term collaboration with developing countries in education, researchand development.

The size of the circles illustrates the countries’ share on global spendings for R&D.Source: Batelle, R&D-Magazine, 2009 Global R&D Funding Forecast

Scientists and Engineers/Million people

R&D Percentage of gross domestic product

8000

7000

6000

5000

4000

3000

2000

1000

0

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

Karl WollinHead of the “BasicEnergy Research” department German Federal Ministry of Education and ResearchHeinemannstraße 253175 Bonn0228-99 [email protected]

FigureThe leading R&Dcountries, 2007

Wollin • The federal government’s strategy

52


India

Japan

China

Sweden

Germany

U.S.A

• Using the German research and innovationpotential to take on international responsibi-lity and contribute to solving global challenges.

Meeting the globally increasing energy demandwith a sustainable and affordable energy supply,which protects the environment and climate, isone of the most important tasks in this context.Germany is an international leader in researchand production of technologies for renewableenergies and efficient use of energy. The goal ofinternationally-focused research must be to con-tribute to strengthening this leadership positionand preparing the way for global use of thesetechnologies.

However: Other countries have also identifiedthe potential and market opportunities offeredby renewable energy and are making significantinvestments in production and research, in particular in the photovoltaics and wind powertechnologies. If Germany wants to be successfulin this competition, we must be better than others through our research, develop our tech-nologies and work strategically in promoting research and the next generation of scientists,industry and infrastructure.

„Research for global markets“, as in the title ofthe 2009 FVEE annual conference, primarilymeans collaborating internationally, and doingso in a variety of ways:

Academic exchanges and collaboration with thebest research centres in the world are essential ifwe are to retain our excellent position in research. We will only be able to continue to develop top technologies and offer them world-wide if we remain an attractive, internationallynetworking scientific location.

Up and coming scientists must be educated internationally and the mobility of scientistsmust be promoted if we are to succeed in thiscontext.

In order to support this, opportunities for international research cooperation should beimproved, internationally-focused research infra-structures should be expanded further and thepresence of German universities and research institutes overseas should be enhanced. Synergies with measures and funding instruments of the European Union should beused for this purpose.


53


Source: ZEW (2006): Enquiry of scientists / Edler (2007)

Africa

Australia/Oceania

AsiaEast EuropeWest Europe

Middle/South America

North America

Target

Origin

Figure International mobilityof scientists and researchers from andto Germany

Many of the target countries for our environ-mentally friendly energy technology productsare developing countries. However, simply exporting technology is not enough here; wealso have to prepare the ground for environ-mentally friendly supply and usage conceptswith strategically prepared cooperation projects.This includes the fostering of expertise, specialist institutions and the training of experts.This can only succeed if collaboration with developing countries in education, research anddevelopment is enhanced. Scientific and technological collaboration must complementdevelopment policy collaboration if this target isto be achieved. Important tasks in this contextinclude initiating dialogue in international education and research, supporting research inhumanities and social sciences and further developing European and multilateral instruments.


54


Juliane HinschHead of the Office of theRenewable Energy Export Initiative in theGerman Federal Ministryof Economics and Technology Scharnhorststraße 34–3710115 Berlin030-18 [email protected]

Off to new markets! – Renewable Energy Export Initiative

Renewable energy is becoming more and moreimportant for the global energy supply. Germancompanies in this industry have a leading position in the international competition, andtheir technologies are highly esteemed and indemand overseas.

The Renewable Energy Export Initiative wasestablished in 2003 based on a decision by theGerman Bundestag to make an active contribu-tion to global climate protection by distributingGerman technologies, and to support Germancompanies in positioning themselves on inter-national markets.

Since then, the initiative has been managed,coordinated and financed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology(BMWi). It is supported by Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (German Energy Agency, dena),the Association of German Chambers of Com-merce and Industry (DIHK) and the affiliatedGerman Chamber Network (AHKn), GermanyTrade and Invest (GTAI) and the German Societyfor Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

With a wide range of measures, specially tailored for the requirements of small and medium-sized companies, the Export Initiativesupports the German renewable energy industry in opening new sales markets overseas:

1. Market information

At events in Germany on selected target countries, entrepreneurs can learn about poten-tial sales markets.

In addition to this, numerous publications offercompact industry profiles and comprehensivecountry and market analyses. A weekly news-letter reports on the latest industry news andtrends in the target markets.

2. Business development

In order to support German companies in business development worldwide, the Export Initiative offers the so-called AHK business travelprogramme. It involves individual travel for German entrepreneurs to potential cooperationpartners and a central presentation event in thetarget country.

The Export Initiative organises travel for foreignpotential customers or decision-makers from thefields of business and politics in the target coun-try to Germany with the purchaser or multiplierprogramme. This allows them to learn aboutGerman technology on-site, and do businesswith German providers of products directly.

3. Programme for developingcountries

By providing market information and developing contacts to local experts, businesspartners and decision-makers on-site, the

Hinsch • Renewable Energy Export Initiative

55


Project Development Programme (PEP) assistsGerman companies in positioning themselves indeveloping countries. In addition to this, theprogramme also supports local private-sectorstructures in these countries via knowledge andtechnology transfers.

4. Marketing support

The Export Initiative offers support for successfuloverseas marketing. This includes joint stands attrade fairs overseas and presentation of Germanrenewable energy companies in the Internet orin multilingual marketing and exhibition material under the image label “renewables –Made in Germany”. In addition to this, the Export Initiative also supports the image-enhan-cing installation of solar energy systems on representative institutions as flagship projectsoverseas. The virtual marketplace www.renew-ablesb2b.com allows companies to make contacts around the world quickly and easilyand market their products.

The economic dynamics of companies whohave availed of the services of the Export Initiative have developed particularly success-fully. They can save a lot of time and moneywhen entering the market.

See www.exportinitiative.bmwi.de for furtherinformation on the services of the Export Initiative and current events..

Hinsch • Renewable Energy Export Initiative

56


Solar construction – Climate-appropriate construction inother climates

If the climatic conditions in a region perma-nently or temporarily deviate from the rangeconsidered comfortable by users, measuresmust be taken to condition the interior climateto make the living environment pleasant. Thetask of climate-appropriate construction consistsin ensuring comfortable interior conditions allyear round with constructive means only, with aminimum use of fossil fuels and a maximumpercentage of renewable energy.

Modern designs often ignore the fundamentalclimate-appropriate principles and then attemptto use high-tech systems (generally with signifi-cant consumption of fossil fuels, and sometimeswith air conditioning systems which are foundunpleasant) to compensate for incorrect con-struction physics decisions. In many countries,buildings are designed and built based on western models, even though they may alreadyhave led to construction physics problems intheir countries of origin. In locations with warmexternal climates, the energy consumption ofbuildings considered unfavourable in Europeanor American conditions increases significantly, asmuch of the energy must be used to cool thebuilding. However, especially in countries in thesun belt, use of solar thermal cooling and airconditioning processes is a promising alternati veto electrically powered chillers. Climate- appro -priate construction, which fulfils the criteria ofsummer-time heat protection, can guarantee amore pleasant interior climate and save a lot ofenergy.

Unfortunately, architectural designs are transfer-red from one climatic region to another withouta second thought, even if they are completelyunsuitable there. The main reasons for thesevio lations of the principles of climate-appropri ateconstruction are historical and social:

• Historically, the inappropriate building styleswere initially imposed by the colonial

powers. They took possession of overseasterritories and forced the construction styleof their home countries on the inhabitantsof the colonies against their will. For example, the building types appropriate andadapted for the climate in Holland are absolutely unsuitable for the former Dutchcolony of Indonesia.

• Today, emerging countries manufacture andinstall technical systems in buildings whichdo not suit the local climate due to a naivebelief in progress and a lack of knowledge ofconstruction physics. The same applies forthe uncritical application of European construction standards. Regulations whichmay be appropriate in Europe are not necessarily suitable for China or Taiwan.Local architecture, which grew organicallyover centuries in the respective climatic regions, is not appreciated or is disregardedby domestic architects. They want to be“modern” and imitate the designs conside-red so (e.g. glass and steel facades as built inAmerica).

Principles of climate- appropriate construction

Depending on the climatic conditions in a region, the interior climate of a building mustbe adjusted in a way that pleasant conditionsare provided for its users. Different comfort criteria and different measures are key for condi-tioning, depending on whether it is too cold ortoo hot outside. Figure 1 shows the step-by-stepprocedure for minimising the energy require-ment. Step-by-step optimisation makes evalua-tion and prioritisation of the individual measureseasier, and facilitates cost-benefit analysis.

Prof. Holm et al. • Solar construction – Climate-appropriate construction in other climates

57


Fraunhofer IBP

Prof. Dr. [email protected]

Dr. Michael Krause(Speaker)[email protected]

Fraunhofer ISE

Sebastian Herkel [email protected]

Dr. Peter Schossig [email protected]

ZAE Bayern

Prof. Dr. [email protected]

Fraunhofer IWES

Dr. Norbert [email protected]

In order to achieve the project target of minimum use of fossil fuels and maximum use of renewable energy, the following procedure isrecommended:

First, the climatic conditions and the conditionsdue to the planned use are analysed on site. Adjusted for these conditions, the technicalequipment of the buildings should be designedsuch that as little energy as possible is requiredfor internal conditioning and any other require-ments. While a solution optimised specificallyfor the local climate must be developed duringplanning of a building, the same potential savings may be utilised for the use-specificenergy requirements as in Europe. Based on theconcepts developed and taking the requirementfigures of comparable premises into account,the expected overall energy requirements aredetermined.

In a further step, the renewable energy sourcesavailable at the project location are analysedand their suitability and economic feasibility forthis project are evaluated. As a result, a recom-mendation of suitable systems and equipmentand a mathematical estimate of the proportionof the overall energy requirement which can besupplied from renewable sources are drawn up.

Any remaining energy requirements are coveredwith conventional processes, whereby an environmentally sensible and economic combi-nation with the renewable systems is the goal.This results in an optimal or multiple equivalentoverall concepts for energy supply.

1st step: Climate factors and climatic conditions

A precise analysis of the climatic conditions onsite is essential in determining the feasibility of aproject in terms of energy and constructionphysics. Key external climatic factors which influence the energy requirements of a buildingare as follows:

• Temperature and relative humidity of the exterior air

• Irradiation intensity• Wind and rain may be important if the

external air or evaporation cooling are to beused to improve the indoor climate.

For apposite planning and construction, the factors arising from the local climatic conditionsmust be taken into account. The influences onthe user’s comfort, the safety of the buildingsand the premature aging of construction materials must also be analysed.

Figure 1 Procedure for minimising the energyrequirement for interiorclimate conditioning inbuildings


58


solar wind biomass marine sources

climate analysis

demand for cooling/heating andhumidification/dehumidification

minimising the energy demand

demand coverage by RE as far as possible

energy efficient concepts to cover the left over demand by fossil energy

comfort design air conditioning solarizationthermal insulation

2nd step: Energy optimisation of buildings

The main adjustments and construction physicsinfluences are shown in Figure 2.

Accordingly, for a climate-appropriate buildingdesign, e.g. for a location in the United ArabEmirates, where climatic conditions require cooling but no heating, the following measuresmust be ensured:

• Favourable ratio of external surface to building volume (i.e. where possible, multi-storey, larger units)

• Preferable orientation of buildings from eastto west as this results in the lowest irradia-tion effect (due to the extremely high sun)

• Minimise window surfaces, use double andtriple glazing, avoid windows facing east orwest due to the strong irradiation

• Preferably automatic shading, low SHGC(Solar Heat Gain Coefficient) values of wind-ows reduce heating by the sun

• Good thermal insulation of the roof surfacesin particular

• Lightest possible colours for the external sur-faces, to reflect more of the solar irradiationand absorb less

• Decrease the exchange of air in warm periods to prevent excessive heating of thebuilding, ventilation system with heat recovery

• Avail in full of options for nocturnal ventila-tion (care is needed in high humidity areas)

Figure 2 Construction physicsinfluences and adjust-ment options for coo-ling energy of buildings

• Where possible, urban developments shouldbe planned such that streets are narrow andthe buildings opposite one another provideshade.

3rd step: Efficient building conditioning andtechnical systems

According to the project targets, renewableenergy should be used to cover as much of theenergy demand as possible. The potential natural or renewable energy sources must betaken into consideration and their availabilityand respective possible energy supply potentialmust be evaluated based on technical and economic criteria.

As already stated in the introduction, as muchof the energy required to generate cooling aspossible should be provided from regenerativeenergy sources. As a result of the high solar potential which is available in many cases, theuse of solar energy for conditioning buildingsand open spaces should be investigated first.Use of photovoltaic systems for direct conver-sion of solar irradiation to energy makes sensein countries in the sun belt, due to the highavailability of solar irradiation. For example, theannual total irradiation in Dubai is 2000 kWh/am². That means that standard modules can produce yields of 100 MWh per annum on asurface area of approx. 500 m². The only problematic or limiting factor for use on site issoiling via sand and dust.


59


reduction of cooling demand

structure design(ground plan)

thermal insulation(roof, walls,

windows, cellar)solarization air conditioning

There is a variety of different thermally drivenprocesses for generating cooling and providingfresh air conditioning using (solar) heat. In general, two types must be distinguished:

• Closed systems which provide cooling forcomfort air conditioning in the form of coldwater

• Open processes used to condition fresh air

Which of these processes is suitable for a particular application depends in particular onthe climatic conditions (irradiation, externaltemperature, external air humidity) on site, inaddition to the building design, building useand comfort requirements. High irradiationleads to great system loads, while high externaltemperatures and air humidity limit the perfor-mance of the systems due to the recooling required.

Conclusion

Climate-appropriate construction largely depends on constant consideration of the pre-vailing climate parameters during the buildingdesign phase.

The energy required for indoor climate conditioning can be significantly reduced viasimple building measures. Studies show that thepotential savings in building energy require-ments can reach up to 75%. To achieve this, thevarious measures must already be taken intoconsideration as part of planning:

• Climate-appropriate building design• Use of new energy-saving technologies• Combination of high-efficiency systems for

supplying power and cooling

Constructive measures in particular can only bechanged to a minor extent after the fact. Thedesign and combination of the system techno-logy also requires comprehensive planning, asover or undersizing leads to a significant increase in the primary energy requirement orto a lack of conditioning in the interiors. There-fore: First, build appropriately for the climate,then install air conditioning appropriate for thebuilding!


60


Concentrating solar collectors for process heat and electricity generation

Concentrating solar thermalcollectors for global markets

Concentrating collectors are particularly suitablefor generating process heat and electricity in climatic regions with high direct solar irradiationpotential around the world. The earth’s so-cal-led sun belt extends to the left and right of theequator, incorporating Southern Europe, NorthAfrica, and the great deserts of our planet.

Collectors in the temperature range from ap-prox. 250 °– 450 ° are suitable for use in solarthermal power plants, such as those planned forthe Desertec project. To date, thermal oil hasprimarily been used as the heat transfer medium in parabolic trough power plants. A fu-ture alternative is direct evaporation of water forparabolic troughs and linear Fresnel collectors, a

cost-effective and environmentally friendly heattransfer medium. Smaller concentrating collec-tors, which generate process heat at temperatu-res between 150 °C and 300 °C, are suitable forsolar cooling and for combined heat and powergeneration. This allows direct supply of indu-strial companies with heat/cooling and electri-city. That is particularly interesting for regionswith unstable electricity grids or grid-remote regions. In India alone, the off-grid electricitygeneration in the power range below 1 MWel

accounts for 12% of the overall electricity consumption.

In Europe, approx. 27% of the overall finalenergy requirement is accounted for by industrial process heat. Approx. 30% of this requirement occurs at temperatures below 100 °C and a further 27% occurs in a range bet-ween 100 and 400°C [1].

Heimsath et al. • Concentrating solar collectors

61


power generation

power generationprocess heat

process heat, solar cooling,decental power generation

solar cooling,low-temperature process heat

>450°C

250–450°C

150–250°C

80–150°C

Fraunhofer ISE

Anna [email protected]

Werner [email protected]

Stefan Heß[email protected]

DLR

Dirk Krü[email protected]

Markus [email protected]

Figure 1 Overview of concentra-ting collectors, applica-tions andcorresponding opera-ting temperatures

A majority of process heat can be generated viasolar energy. Processes with great potential forintegration of low-temperature process heat upto 150 °C and medium-temperature processheat up to 400 °C are used in the foodstuffs andtextile industries, for example, as well as in laundries, the metal and paper industries.

Stationary collectors for generating low-temperatureprocess heat

One approach to utilising the great potential inthe area of low-temperature process heat is thedevelopment of low-concentration stationary(i.e. do not track the sun) collectors. Comparedwith focusing collectors, they have the advan-tage that much of the diffuse solar irradiationcan also be used for energy conversion. Compa-red with standard flat-plate collectors, they generally have significantly lower thermal losses.Therefore, these collectors are suitable for thetemperature range between 80 °C and 150 °C[2]. An example for this kind of collector con-cept is shown in Figure 2 – the RefleC collector,developed by Wagner & Co. Solartechnik in cooperation with Fraunhofer ISE as part of aproject funded by the German Federal Ministry

for the Environment, Nature Conservation andNuclear Safety.

Based on the technology of standard flat-platecollectors the following goals are pursued:

• Reduction of thermal losses by using a second transparent collector cover and concentrating reflectors

• Lower costs and better draining in the eventof stagnation than evacuated tube collectors

• Adaptation of the maximum collector output to the load profile of the applicationto be supported (via the shape of the reflectors)

Simulation results in Würzburg for the versionshown in Figure 2 indicate that at a constantinput temperature of 120 °C, the annual energyyield is 40% higher than for a double coveredflat-plate collector due to the use of reflectors.


62


Figure 2 Second test sample ofthe RefleC collector formeasuring the efficiency curve atFraunhofer ISE (rotated 90 ° counter-clockwise).

Direct evaporation for powerplants

In generating electricity in solar thermal powerplants, the system efficiency is primarily deter-mined by the upper process temperature. Currently, a synthetic heat transfer oil stable upto approx. 400 °C is used in parabolic troughfields. A further increase of the process tempera-ture, and thus the system efficiency, is not possible with this approach.

However, if water is evaporated directly in thecollector arrays and overheated, the upper pro-cess temperature can be increased significantly.Direct evaporation of the water in the collectorarray is far more complex than the current tech-nology from a process technology point of view,due to the two phase flow and the great difference in density between water and steam.The fundamental controllability of the directsolar evaporation was demonstrated successfullyin the DISS test system at the Plataforma Solarde Almería (PSA) during over 10,000 operatinghours.

Current development targets consist in impro-ving key components of the collector array sothat they can be used at temperatures of up to500 °C and pressures of up to approx. 130 bar.

The research efforts in this area focus on

• Absorber tubes, in which the temperaturestability of the selective coating must be increased,

• Flexible pipelines, which must remain flexible at significantly higher process pressures, and

• The storage system in which economic solutions are developed for storing the latentevaporation heat.

The development work has now reached a levelof maturity which encouraged German andSpanish consortia to produce initial demonstra-tion systems. At the beginning of 2009, Novatec-Biosol commissioned the first solarthermal power plant with direct solar evapora-tion near Murcia (Spain). The power plant hasan electricity output of 1.2 MW and uses linearFresnel collectors (Figure 3).

Industrial process heat andcombined heat, cooling andpower generation

Steam is often used in industrial companies andhotels to supply heat to various consumers.


63


Figure 3 Collector array of thefirst solar thermalpower plant with directsolar evaporation nearMurcia(Image: Novatec-Biosol)

Figure 4 Steam circuit for directsolar process steam generation

Small heat transfer surfaces and rapid heating ofthe connected processes are key advantages.Solar collectors can provide steam for this purpose; however, so far only a few systemshave been built which use this principle. Steamis generated indirectly, oil or pressurised water isheated in the solar array and then routed to asteam generator or a pressure release. However,direct evaporation in the solar array can increasethe efficiency and possibly decrease the systemcosts [3].

The direct evaporation is currently being demonstrated in the “Pilot solar process heatgeneration system with parabolic trough collectors” project. For this, 100 m² of SolitemPTC1800 collectors were installed on the roof ofa production hall of the Alanod company withfunding by the BMU [4]. The solar array is operated in recirculation mode, i.e. only part ofthe water is evaporated. The water/steam mix-ture is then routed to a steam drum and separa-ted there. The saturated steam is routed to theproduction steam mains, as soon as a pressureof over 4 bar (abs), equivalent to a temperatureof 143 °C, is reached. The water in the steamdrum is pumped back into the solar array (recirculated). The evaporated water quantity isrouted back to the solar array from the conden-sate line (Figure 4).

The combined generation of electricity and heatwas studied thoroughly at Fraunhofer ISE in the“Medifres” project funded by BMU. Case studies showed that under favourable conditi-ons in high irradiation countries, replacing diesel generators with combined solar heat,cooling and power is already worthwhile. Companies and research institutes can networkon the topic of „Medium and Small Scale CSP“via the www.mss-csp.info homepage.

Summary and outlook

Concentrating collectors can make an important contribution to future solar heat andelectricity supply. Concentrating collectors support the industry in decreasing their depen-dency on fossil fuels.

Decentralised combined heat, cooling andpower can be an interesting future option. Inorder to establish these technologies globally,further demonstration projects are required, aswell as research and development in the field ofsmall-scale thermal engines, system integrationand collector development customised for target markets, to develop concentrating collectors as an important component in future.


64


Solar Field

Recirculation pump Feed water pump

Condensate

SteamDryer

Steam

Literatur

[1] Werner S. (2007): “The European HeatMarket”, ECOHEATCOOL – Work Package1. Final Report, IEE ALTENER Project, Euroheat & Power, Belgium

[2] Weiß, W. et al. (2008): “Process Heat Collectors”, IEA Task 33/IV: Solar Heat forIndustrial Processes. AEE INTEC, Gleisdorf. www.iea-shc.org/task33/publications/index.html

[3] Krüger, Dirk; Hennecke, Klaus; Hirsch, Tobias; Eck, Markus: Demonstration solarerProzessdampferzeugung. 10. Kölner Sonnenkolloqium, Köln, 21.6.2007

[4] Hennecke, Klaus; Hirsch, Tobias; Krüger,Dirk; Lokurlu, Ahmet; Walder, Markus: The P3 Demonstration Plant: Direct Steam Generation for Process Heat Applications.In: Proceedings of the 14th InternationalSolarPACES Symposium, Las Vegas, USA, 3.–7. März 2008

[5] Platzer, Werner (2009), „SolarthermischeKraftwerke für den mittleren Leistungsbe-reich – Machbarkeitsstudie unter Einbezie-hung neuer Kraftwerkskomponenten undVersorgungsstrategien“, Endbericht MEDIFRES, Freiburg, Oktober 2009


65


Dr. Ernst Huenges Helmholtz Centre Potsdam/German Research Centre for [email protected]

Figure 1 Accessing a geothermal reservoir

Research on geothermal electricitygeneration – On-site laboratory atGroß Schönebeck

In Germany, geothermal heat can be providedfrom deeper reservoirs from depths of 400 m ormore (deep geothermal energy) for large-scaleheat grids and for electricity generation – com-binations are also possible.

The technologies for use in deep geothermalenergy generally require at least one productionborehole and one reinjection borehole, whichaccess water with sufficient temperature from adeep geothermal reservoir as required. Thethermal water circuit is closed above ground,the energy is generally transferred to the respec-tive consumer via a heat exchanger, and thecooled water is returned to the reservoir via thereinjection borehole (Figure 1).

The geothermal resources available in Germanyconsist of deep hot water (hydrothermal systems) to a lesser extent, and to a far greaterextent of thermal energy stored in plutonic rock(petrothermal systems).

Hydrothermal systems are deep strata whichcarry water (aquifers) with sufficient natural hydraulic conductivity (permeability). In addition to the temperature of the aquifer, thekey for economic operation of hydrothermal systems is the pump rate which can be achieved. For reasons of economy, hot waterproduction of at least 100 m³/h is often requi-red. While a specific temperature can always bereached at a corresponding depth, the secondcondition considerably restricts the number ofpossible locations.

Dr. Huenges • Research for geothermal electricity generation

66


heat exchanger

production borehole

geothermal reservoir

reinjection borehole

Figure 2 EGS project in GroßSchönebeck with theroute of both boreholes and cracksystems created in thestorage area

Accessing these hot aquifers primarily involves adiscovery risk. While the reservoir depth andtemperature can be predicted relatively precisely, the main risk is insufficient aquifer permeability and thus insufficient thermal waterproduction.

In petrothermal systems, geothermal energy iscollected from plutonic rock strata irrespectiveof the hydraulic properties of the geothermalconductor. While the temperature distributionin the earth’s crust is prescribed by nature, petrothermal systems can improve the flow con-ditions to the borehole via engineering proces-sing with engineered geothermal systems (EGS)technologies. Figure 2 shows the result of sucha treatment based on the example of the on-sitegeothermal laboratory in Groß Schönebeck. Inspecial cases, such treatments can be used togenerate an artificial heat exchanger under-ground, from which the deep geothermalenergy is withdrawn with surface water. In thisway, petrothermal systems can increase the economy of geothermal energy generation. For

example, the hydraulic fracturing or acid treat-ment methods can artificially increase the hydraulic conductivity even in low permeabilityrock. In Germany, approx. 95% of the geother-mal potential can only be accessed using thistechnology. All system components required forthis are available, but only a few projects haveimplemented this technology to access a deepgeothermal heat source.

Access to deep geothermal energy via boreholesand the subsequent provision of energy are largely dependent on two conditions: First ofall, the temperature should significantly exceed40 °C for heating or 100 °C for electricity generation.

On the other hand, a sufficient flow rate per borehole or pair of boreholes must be attainable.

These and other basic conditions generally cannot be proven until the project developmentis already underway, which means that a seriesof decisions must be made on the way to


67


geothermal energy provision. Much research isstill needed. The need for research for the corre-sponding project phases is shown by the fieldswith green backgrounds.

Systems for supplying heat to many or large-scale consumers, e.g. for feeding into large-scale heating grids of up to 40 MW (commerce,apartment buildings), use deep geothermalenergy from boreholes approx. 2-3 km deepand feed the thermal energy into heating grids.In Germany, they currently have a total capacityof approx. 150 MW and a broader market intro-duction is imminent. The expansion of low-tem-perature heating grids would significantlyexpedite the market launch. Compared to smaller systems with shallow geothermalenergy, these systems are more suitable fordense development.

To generate electricity, hot water is pumpedfrom boreholes at depths of up to 4-5 km. Ingeneral, subterranean engineering work on thegeothermal reservoir is required in Germany toachieve the flow rate required for economic use.Above ground, the thermal energy of the pumped hot water is converted to electricity viasecondary circuits (ORC or Kalina). The first systems of this type connected to the grid inGermany, with roughly 7 MW of installed elec-tric capacity, prove the fundamental feasibilityof this type of electricity generation.


68


Storing bioenergy and renewableelectricity in the natural gas grid

1. Storing renewable energyfor fluctuation compensa-tion, supply security andgrid stability

The goal of future energy systems is a sustaina-ble complete supply based on renewable resources. The final energy sources electricity,heat and fuel should be available at all timeswithout usage restrictions. However, many re-newable energy sources, such as wind powerand solar energy, provide energy in a fluctua-ting manner. Energy storage is the solution.Thus, even in times when renewable energy isin short supply (e.g. no wind), the demand canbe met.

This paper presents a new approach for seaso-nal storage of renewable energy. The storagemedium in question is SNG – Substitute NaturalGas –, which can be generated via the conver-sion route „Biogas-to-SNG“, „BioSyngas-to-SNG“ and the new „Wind-to-SNG“ concept.

Generation of substitute natural gas („biome-thane“) from biogas is state-of-the-art. Manu-facturing processes from biosynthesis gas viabiomass gasification are currently in the demonstration phase. The process of generatingsubstitute natural gas from CO2 and H2 is new.Fluctuating electricity from renewable energysources (e.g. from wind power) is used for electrolytic generation of hydrogen, which isconverted to methane with CO2 (e.g. from biogas) or with CO/CO2 compounds (e.g. fromthe product gas of the thermo-chemical conver-sion of biomass) in a synthesis reactor in thewind-to-SNG concept.

Using the existing natural gas infrastructure, therenewably produced, chemical energy sourcemethane is stored efficiently, distributed and

made available for use as required. Bidirectionalconvertability of electricity and gas facilitatesenergy storage and electricity grid stabilisation,by providing negative balancing energy if thereis surplus electricity by feeding substitute natural gas or by providing positive balancingenergy if there is a demand for electricity viaconversion of substitute natural gas into electricity.

2. Energy storage: A key component in a sustainableenergy system

Of all the renewable energy sources, biomass isthe easiest to store, as this exists in materialform as fuel. It can be stored seasonally, and isavailable when required for generating heat,electricity and fuel and therefore suitable forbase load coverage. Biomass currently coversapprox. 10% of the global energy demand. However, the contribution to global energyconsumption could increase to max. approx.20%. Geothermal energy and run-of-river hydroelectricity, other sources with limited supplies, are also suitable for covering the baseload. The great potential of renewable energysources lies in virtually unlimited solar radiationand in wind energy, although both occur in ahighly fluctuating manner and can only be controlled to a limited extent, and therefore require storage.

Only sufficient energy storage can ensure a secure complete supply based on renewableenergy sources. The potential and the possiblefields of application of the various storage systems depend on the required storage capa-city and storage duration, as well as the conver-sion losses and the costs. Only the expansion ofthe electricity grids, the bundling of different

Dr. Specht et al. • Storing renewable energy in the natural gas grid

69


ZSW

Dr. Michael Specht [email protected]

Frank [email protected]

Bastian [email protected]

Volkmar [email protected]

Bernd Stü[email protected]

Dr. Ulrich Zuberbü[email protected]

Fraunhofer IWES

Dr. Michael [email protected]

Solar Fuel Technolo gy GmbH& Co. KG

Gregor WaldsteinHofhaymer Allee 42A-5020 [email protected]

electricity generators together with consumersand new storage concepts, along with clevermanagement of generation, loads and storage,allow an energy system based on renewableenergy sources to be created which can guaran-tee complete supply at all times.

2.1 Storage options for renewable energy

Most renewable energy is converted to electri-city in a transportable form. However, electricitycan only be stored directly to a limited extent(e.g. in capacitors). Electricity storage technolo-gies therefore use the following forms ofenergy:

• Electric energy (supercapacitors)• Potential energy (hydropower, pumped

storage power plant)• Mechanical energy (compressed air reser-

voirs, flywheel energy storage systems)• Electrochemical energy (batteries)• Chemical energy (fuels)

Pumped storage power plants are generallyused for storing electricity for periods rangingfrom several hours to several days. In the energyindustry, such hydroelectric power plants havefor decades been the storage medium of choicefor intermediate storage of excess electricity andfor feeding these capacities back into the electri-city grid when needed (peak load coverage). As

their existing capacity and expansion potentialare strictly limited by geographical factors andenvironmental conditions in Germany, they willonly be able to contribute to the future integra-tion of renewable energy into the electricity gridto a limited extent.

Compressed air reservoirs operate with outputranges similar to those of pumped storagepower plants. However, there are as yet onlytwo systems in operation worldwide.

Storage in flywheel energy storage systems orsupercapacitors is limited, particularly withregard to duration and capacity. Therefore, theyare primarily used for short-term (<< 1 hour)provision of power to compensate for fluctuations.

Stationary and mobile batteries represent a medium-term (< 1 day) power reserve, although their use is limited by their very lowenergy and power density and lifetime. The integration of future electric vehicles’ mobilebatteries into the electricity grid as part of a so-called „vehicle-to-grid“ concept makes itpossible to charge vehicles’ batteries (energystorage) and systematically feed the energyback into the power grid. This creates large-scale “virtual battery storage”. However, its useis restricted by the availability period of the vehicles and the capacity provided by the vehicle owner. Also, intelligent management ofthe charging and discharging processes is required (smart grid).

For long-term storage and seasonal balancing ofrenewable energy sources, currently only chemi-cal secondary energy carriers can be used, suchas hydrogen and carbon-based fuels (e.g. sub-stitute natural gas), which can be created fromvarious renewable energy sources. The with -drawal capacities of underground gas storageincluding conversion to electricity extend intothe 10-GW range, with cycle times rangingfrom days to months (see Figure 1). They there-fore represent the only conceivable option forseasonally storing renewable energy with a capa city in the TWh range and converting it backinto electricity when required. In addition, thechemical secondary energy carriers can be usedin other application areas, such as in transport.


CAES: Compressed Air Energy Storage (Druckluftspeicherkraftwerk)PHS: Pumped Hydro Storage (Pumpspeicherwerk)H2, SNG: Die Untertage-Ausspeicherung beinhaltet die Rückverstromung in

GuD-Kraftwerken (Gas- und Dampf)

Storage capacity of different storage systems

Disch

arge time [h]

70

Figure 1 Discharge time andstorage capacity of different electricity storage systems


2.2 Storage capacities in today’s energy system and when expanding electromobility

In today’s energy system, energy reserves areprovided via the storage of fossil fuels (coal,crude oil and natural gas). The amount ofenergy thus stored is typically enough to coverseveral months’ consumption. However, thisdoes not apply to electricity. Supply and de-mand must always be precisely balanced. If sup-ply is largely provided from renewable energysources, the principal question is: Which storagesystems can take the place of fossil fuel reserves?

The figures in Table 1 illustrate the problemswith storing electricity: Generation and con-sumption must be simultaneous. The availableelectricity storage capacity adds up to just0.04 TWh, i.e. the available storage facilitiescould theoretically satisfy Germany’s entire elec-tricity demand for less than 1 hour.

If electric vehicles’ batteries are bidirectionallyintegrated into the grid and coupled with intel-ligent energy management, both the chargingand the withdrawal of energy are possible (vehi-cle to grid). Batteries have the advantage of avery rapid response time and can thus be acti-vated and deactivated flexibly. Therefore, these

mobile energy storage systems offer the optionof providing system services for grid stabilisa-tion, e.g. balancing energy or load balancing. In peak load periods, this energy is available viadischarging the traction batteries, which arethen charged again during low load periods.This smoothes the electricity load curve and reduces the load on the energy generators, aswell as on the grid, depending on the spatialdistribution of the storage systems. Assumingthat 40 million vehicles are all simultaneouslyconnected to the electricity grid and that eachvehicle feeds in 10 kWh, the storage coverageamounts to around 6 hours and is thus manytimes higher than the capacity installed to datein the form of pumped storage power plants(Table 2).

By incorporating traction batteries, electromobi-lity can thus make a contribution to electricitystorage and electricity grid stabilisation. There-fore, in the future it will be possible to use electric vehicles primarily as short-term energystorage systems in order to support grid opera-tion and to bridge short-term fluctuations. However, the existing system does not permitmulti-day, let alone seasonal electricity storage,even under the assumption that all current vehicles were replaced by electric vehicles.


71


Consumtion [TWh/a] 615 930 707Average output [GW] 70 1062) 81Storage capacity [TWh] 0,043) 2174) 2505)

Mathematical storage coverage6) [h] 0,6 2000 3100

Electricity Natural gas Liquid fuels1)

1) Petrol, diesel, kerosene2) Fluctuates greatly seasonally3) Pumped storage power plants4) 47 underground gas storage systems (plus 79 TWh under construction/in the planning stage) [1]5) Stock of petrol, diesel, kerosene und extra light heating oil6) Relative to the average output

Consumption2) [TWh/a] 1,9 76Percentage of electricity consumption [%] 0,3 12Storage capacity3) [TWh] 0,01 0,4Mathematical storage coverage4) [h] 0,15 6

1 million electric vehicles 40 million electric vehicles

1) Reference year 20082) 0.16 kWh/km; 12,000 km/a3) Available storage capacity per vehicle: 10 kWh4) Relative to the average output of 70 GW (cf. Tab. 1)

Table 1Energy consumptionand storage capacitiesin Germany (2008)

Table 2Energy consumptionand storage capacitiesvia electric vehicles inGermany1)

Current knowledge suggests that the produc-tion of secondary energy carriers is a necessaryprerequisite for seasonal energy storage. Liquidand gaseous fuels, unlike electricity, can be stored directly and in large quantities. In thefuel market, petrol and diesel are stored formonths at a time. The gas storage capacities inGermany are around 5000 times higher thanthe capacities of pumped storage power plants(Table 1). As natural gas can be converted intoelectricity in modern power plants with an efficiency of almost 60%, the obvious solution isto use gas storage capacity for the storage of renewable energy.

2.3 Capacity requirements for seasonal storage systems

One key question in the event of 100% supplybased entirely on renewable energy sources is:How much storage output and storage capacityis required in the German electricity grid, tobridge longer wind lulls for example? Renew-able energies used for generating electricity andsuitable for covering the base load include bio-energy, geothermal energy, run-of-river hydro-electricity and approx. 10% of the wind powercapacity installed. Of this total approx. 18 GWof forecast output in 2050, bioenergy will account for 5 GW, geothermal energy for 4 GW,run-of-river hydroelectricity for 3 GW and thepart of the wind energy output which is suitablefor covering the base load will be 6 GW, calcula-ted in accordance with [2]. At an average loadof 70 GW (see Table 1) almost 20 TWh of storage capacity remains, if the remaining out-put of approx. 50 GW is drawn over a period of2 weeks. However, only 0.04 TWh are currentlyavailable in Germany for electricity storage inpumped storage power plants. For completesupply based on renewable electricity, storagecapacities would have to be increased by a factor of around 500!

The only viable option in Germany for the re-quired capacities of around 20 TWh would bechemical energy carriers, which can be storedunderground in caverns as gas, for example. Incomparison, a reservoir cavern with hydrogenas the chemical storage medium has around 10to 100 times the storage capacity of the com-pressed air variant; with renewably generated

substitute natural gas, the storage capacity iseven around 30 to 300 times as high (depen-ding on the storage pressure). A comparisonwith existing and planned natural gas storagefacilities shows that these storage capacities arealready in place in the existing infrastructure(Table 1). From a purely theoretical point ofview, 217 TWh of natural gas stored in cavernscan be converted into 130 TWh of electricitywith gas and steam power plants on a flexibletimescale. There are no other storage technolo-gies with capacities in the region of > 10 TWhon the horizon.

Nevertheless, a conflict is arising with regard tothe storage of renewable energy in under-ground storage facilities: the technologies ofcompressed air reservoirs and gas storage facilities (natural gas, substitute natural gas orhydrogen) are competing with the so-called„storage“ technology CCS (carbon capture andstorage), which actually refers to disposal ofCO2 and not storage of energy itself. If thelarge-scale conversion of fossil fuels into electri-city were to involve the dumping of CO2 inempty natural gas underground storage

facilities, the corresponding reservoirs wouldthus no longer be available for seasonally storing renewable energy.

3. Solution: Substitute naturalgas (SNG) as a storage medium for renewableenergy

The renewable energy carrier SNG can be produced in a variety of ways. Primary resourcesinclude• „Wet“ biomass for anaerobic fermentation

(biogas to SNG)• „Dry“ biomass for thermochemical gasifica-

tion (biosyngas to SNG)• Renewably generated electricity for electro-

lytic production of hydrogen in combinationwith carbon (di)oxide from various biogenicand non-biogenic sources (wind to SNG)

• Combination of the abovementioned methods

The individual paths are explained below.


72


Equations 1 to 3

3.1 Biogas to SNG

In anaerobic fermentation of biomass, raw bio-gas with the main components CH4 (50 – 70vol.%) and CO2 (30 – 50 vol.%) is produced. Italso contains steam, minor components H2S,NH3, and depending on the type of pre-desulp-hurisation, also N2 and O2. Treatment of the rawbiogas to SNG is implemented by removingwater, the minor components and the maincomponent CO2, until it reaches the quality required for feeding (substitute gas quality) forthe maximum concentration of the gas compo-nents and the combustion properties. CO2 is removed in existing plants via pressure swingadsorption or various scrubber systems. The residual gas created in treatment is generallyused to generate heat for the fermenter in aburner or in a gas motor for combined electri-city/heat generation.

3.2 BioSyngas to SNG

If solid fuels are not burned but gasified, the result is a combustible gas which can be usedfor a variety of purposes. The fuel reacts withair, oxygen and/or steam, and the raw gas required is created. Its composition depends onthe gasification method, the process conditionsand the materials used. Ideally, the gas is not diluted with nitrogen, an inert component (gasification with air). Main components in-clude H2, CO, CO2, H2O and (depending on thegasification temperature) CH4. Minor compo-nents such as sulphur compounds, ammonia,tars and dust loads must be removed from thegas.

To create SNG via biomass gasification, the AER(Absorption Enhanced Reforming) process developed at ZSW has ideal properties fordown stream methanation due to its high H2-content of > 60 vol.%. In this reaction, CO

and CO2 are converted to methane via the hy-drogen present in the gas (Equation 1 – 3). Thisrequires a defined H2/CO/CO2 ratio, providedno gas conditioning/gas separation is required.Thanks to its configurable stoichiometry [3], itscomponents and the CH4 part already present,the AER product gas is ideal for creating SNG, asno other process steps are required after prima-rily quantitative conversion and after separationof reaction water. If synthesis gases from gasifi-cation with non-adjusted H2-content are used,downstream CO2 separation is absolutely neces-sary.

3.3 Wind to SNG

The „Production of C-based fuels from CO2 andH2“ topic has been the subject of research atZSW since the end of the 1980s with the objec-tive of storing renewable energy [4 – 6]. Newaspects of the wind to SNG concept are the useof existing gas grid infrastructures for storingand converting the generated fuel to electricity,and in particular the use of wind-generatedelectricity, the further expansion of which is currently restricted by the capacity of the electricity grids. However, solar electricity or anyother type of renewable electricity can be usedfor the process.

The basic principle of the wind to SNG conceptis the bidirectional linking of the existing infra-structure units (the electricity grid and the gasgrid) with the goal of establishing a new way ofmanaging loads and generation, which enableshigh proportions of fluctuating electricity gene-ration from renewable energy sources to be accommodated in the energy system. To date,this link only exists in terms of generating elec-tricity from natural gas (gas to power), but notvice versa (power to gas). The new concept isbased on storing electricity which cannot be fedinto the grid for reasons of grid stability, or


73


3 H2 + CO � CH4 + H2O(g) DHR = -206 kJ/mol (Equation 1)

4 H2 + CO2 � CH4 + 2 H2O(g) DHR = -165 kJ/mol (Equation 2)

H2O(g) + CO � H2 + CO2 DHR = -41 kJ/mol (Equation 3)

Methanation reactions

CO-Shift-Reaktion

cheaply available electricity (e.g. at times whena large amount of wind power is available), inthe form of substitute natural gas. One key goalis to enable the planning and control of thefeed from wind farms. The principle is shown inFigure 2.

The concept envisages firstly using electrolysisto convert „excess“ electricity from fluctuatingsources into hydrogen, then into substitute natural gas in a subsequent synthesis step withCO2 (and/or CO). The energy efficiency for thisis > 60 % (kWhSNG/kWhel).

A wind to SNG system can accommodate excess wind power by initiating electrolysis andcan store it temporarily as SNG in the naturalgas grid. In times when less wind power is available, or when the demand for electricity ishigher, the electrolysis level can be reduced bymeans of systematic reduction or deactivationof the electrolysis. In order to ensure that thereis sufficient electricity generation power – evenduring periods of low to no wind – a combina-tion of the wind to SNG system with a gas or

combined heat and power plant is a suitableconcept, whereby conversion to electricity doesnot have to be implemented at the location ofthe wind to SNG system.

The wind to SNG concept is also easy to inte-grate in the existing energy system. A particularadvantage compared to other options is the useof the natural gas grid with its high storage andtransport capacity. While a high voltage directcurrent transmission is restricted to outputs < 7 GW, gas pipelines can reach up to 70 GW.High wind power yields can be stored both seasonally and transported long distances withhigh energy transmission levels. For conversionto electricity, gas power stations with electric efficiencies of up to 60% are ideal. With an in-creasing amount of renewable energy in theelectricity grid, Germany requires the construc-tion of these high-efficiency power stations tobe able to react rapidly to load fluctuations. Bycontrast to nuclear and coal-fired power plants,gas power stations can be regulated quickly andeasily.


74

CCPP: Combined Cycle Power PlantB-CHP: Block-Type Combined Heat and Power StationBEV: Battery Electric VehicleFCEV: Fuel Cell Electric VehicleCNG-V: Compressed Natural Gas VehiclePlug-In HEV: Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle; Especial: Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicles/Range-Extended Electric Vehicle

Figure 2 Wind to SNG conceptfor bidirectional coupling of the electricity and gasgrids with a link to themobility consumptionsector


Also worthy of note, is the particular degree offlexibility regarding use options of the storedenergy, because not only can SNG be convertedback into electricity, it can also be used in theheating market or the fuel market. The latter isof particular interest in the context of the planned increase in the proportion of renewablefuels in transport area.

The wind to SNG concept has various interfacesto the mobility area (“wind to tank” in Figure 2),as three regenerative energy carriers for vehiclescan be provided:• (Stored) electricity for battery-powered elec-

tric vehicles (BEV)• H2 for fuel cell vehicles (FCEV)• SNG for natural gas vehicles (CNG-V)

The chemical energy carriers H2 and SNG arealso suitable for plug-in hybrid vehicles (plug-inHEV), with which short distances can be travel-led purely electrically – H2 or SNG are only usedfor longer distances via conversion to electricityin a “Range extender”.

Hydrogen from electrolysis of wind to SNG systems can be distributed via H2 grids and bemade available for mobility. On the other hand,

hydrogen can also be provided via decentralisedgeneration at petrol stations by reforming SNGusing the existing infrastructure, without requiring a large-scale distribution infrastructurefor hydrogen.

3.4 Biogas/Wind to SNG

The carbon dioxide required for methanationcan be provided from a variety of sources (CO2

separation on conversion of fossil fuels to electri-city, lime/cement production, chemicals indu-stry processes etc.). As an “off gas”, CO2 iscreated when converting biogas to biomethane(CO2 separation). As this biogenic CO2 is not as-sociated with climate-relevant emissions, it isparticularly suitable as an educt for methanation(Figure 3.1). Alternatively, CO2 from biogas canalso be used directly without previous separa-tion, by feeding the biogas directly to a metha-nation unit (Figure 3.2). The connection of awind farm/biogas/wind to SNG system to loca -tions where bottlenecks in the electricity gridcause delays in adding wind power is an opti-mal combination (e.g. in coastal areas where alot of new offshore wind power is installed).


75


Figure 3 Increasing the methane yield frombiogas systems by adding H2 and sub-sequent methanation

Method 1: Methanation of CO2 after seperation

Method 2: Methanation of biogas without CO2 seperation

In an initial technical implementation phase, theinstallation of a 10 MW wind to SNG system inconjunction with a biogas plant is planned, inwhich the biogas is methanated to SNG withoutCO2 separation by adding H2. The system is tobe commissioned in 2012.

3.5 BioSyngas/Wind to SNG

In a further version, biogenic gases from ther-mochemical gasification should be used, whosestoichiometry is not adapted to the subsequentSNG generation. Addition of H2 to the gasifica-tion gas allows virtually complete conversion ofthe biogenic carbon to fuel carbon. This facilita-tes significantly more efficient use of biogenicresources for the fuel yield. Another aspect isthe use of the oxygen produced during electro-lysis for biomass gasification.

4. Experimental results

At ZSW, a variety of fixed bed reactors for SNGgeneration up to a power class of 50 kW wasbuilt and tested. Due to the exothermic energyfrom methanation and the quality requirementsfor the gas properties for feeding into the gasgrid (H2 < 5 vol. %, CO2 < 6 vol. %), there arespecial requirements for the reaction manage-ment and the reactor concept. This is taken intoaccount in the reactor geometry, the reactorcooling concept and the activity profiles set forthe catalyst packing beds.


76


Figure 4 Container-integratedwind to SNG systemwith electrolysis stack[1] and methanationdevice [2]

Figure 5 Gas composition of theeduct and productgases on methanationReactor system: Fixedbed; Ni-based catalyst;T = 250–550 °C; pabs= 8 bar; space velocity= 5000 1/h); reactionpaths: AER syngas �SNG; CO2/H2 � SNG;Biogas/H2 � SNG

[1]

[2]

The target is a maximum conversion level in asingle-phase reactor system without requiringdownstream gas conditioning. As an alternative,reactor concepts with intermediate condensa-tion/water separation are being investigated.

A complete container-integrated wind to SNGsystem in the 30 kW power class was developedas commissioned by the Solar Fuel Technologycompany. It contains electrolysis, methanationand control electronics including a filling module for natural gas vehicles (Figure 4). Thesystem is used to study load profiles for gridcontrol. After completion of the test phase, thewind to SNG system will be operated at a biogas plant. The biogas will be methanated directly (without previous CO2 separation) according to process version 2 in Figure 3.

The results of SNG generation from educt gasesAER syngas, CO2/H2 and biogas/H2 are shown inFigure 5. The reactor was operated with compa-rable operating parameters in all three cases.After a single reactor run, the concentrations remain below limit concentrations for H2 andCO2 in the generated SNG for the educt gasesAER syngas and biogas/H2 after drying withoutfurther gas conditioning. For the CO2/H2 eductgas, these limit concentrations are slightly toohigh, but can be complied with via reduction ofthe gas load and/or pressure increase.

The fundamental suitability of the wind to SNGconcept for energy storage and grid control wasproven. With a far less complex process compared to Fischer-Tropsch or methanol synthesis, SNG can also be produced in decen-tralised applications, distributed via the naturalgas grid, stored and used in accordance withdemand.

5. Conclusion

The various methods for producing SNG fromrenewable energy and the use options in diffe-rent consumption sectors offer opportunities fora merging of the electricity grid, gas grid andmobility energy sectors. Electricity and SNG canbe converted to one another bidirectionally andhave a fully-established infrastructure with seasonal gas storage capacity. Also, H2 can becreated decentrally from both energy carriers,without having to rely on a widespread H2 distribution system with high infrastructurecosts. The concept presented possesses the following outstanding features:

• SNG generation permits seasonal storage ofrenewable energy. While the storage capa-city of the electricity grid is currently onlyapprox. 0.04 TWh – with a storage coverageof less than one hour –, the storage capacityof the gas grid in Germany is over 200 TWhwith a storage coverage of months.

• The wind to SNG concept can provide positive and negative balancing energy tostabilise the electricity grid (conversion ofSNG to electricity and increasing/decreasingelectrolysis).

• By expanding wind energy (in particular offshore), in future, high wind power levelswill be available more and more often,which cannot be absorbed fully by the electricity grid, but as SNGs in the existinggas grid.

• SNG generation from CO2 and H2 is, unlikebio-SNG, not subject to surface limitationdue to the cultivation of biomass.

• SNG can be produced from various forms ofrenewable energy (biomass, wind/solar electricity, etc.).

• Combining the resources of biomass andelectricity from renewable energy allows biomass carbon to be transferred almostcompletely into fuel carbon, thus increasingthe coverage of fuels from biomass significantly (e.g. doubling the methaneyield from a biogas plant).


77


Literature

[1] R. Sedlacek, Erdöl Erdgas Kohle 125, Nr. 11, S. 412 (2009)

[2] M. Sterner, N. Gerhardt, Y-M. Saint-Drenan,A. von Oehsen, P. Hochloff, M. Kocma-jewski, P. Lindner, M. Jentsch, C. Pape, S. Bofinger, K. Rohrig, Studie für Schluch-seewerk AG, Fraunhofer IWES, Kassel,www.schluchseewerk.de/105.0.html(2010)

[3] J. Brellochs, T. Marquard-Möllenstedt, M. Specht, U. Zuberbühler, S. Koppatz, C. Pfeifer, H. Hofbauer, Int. Conf. on Poly-Generation Strategies, Wien, 1-4 Sept.(2009)

[4] A. Bandi, M. Specht in „Landolt-Börnstein“,Energy Technologies, Subvolume C: Renewable Energy, VIII/3C, p. 414 (2006)

[5] M. Specht, U. Zuberbühler, A. Bandi, NovaActa Leopoldina NF 91, Nr. 339, S. 239(2004)

[6] M. Specht, A. Bandi, K. Schaber, T. Weimerin „CO2 Fixation & Efficient Utilization ofEnergy“, Y. Tamaura, K. Okazaki, M. Tsuji,S. Hirai (Eds.), Tokyo Institute of Techno-logy, Research Center for Carbon Recycling& Utilization, Tokyo, Japan, p. 165 (1993)


78


Solar thermal power plants – Exporthits without a domestic market

Solar thermal power plants only use the directsolar irradiation, and are therefore hardly usablein Germany. Nevertheless, German companiesand research institutes are among the globaltechnology leaders. This can only be achievedvia suitable international partnerships. This presentation provides details of the major inter-national networks in this area. Examples will beused to show how German technologies and research results can be positioned on the inter-national market.

1. Introduction

Parabolic trough collectors, which generateelectricity in a conventional power plant viahigh-temperature heat, have been used in theMojave Desert in California for over 20 years.For a long time, no-one emulated this successstory. However, the global challenge presentedby the climate change and the oil prices shockhave highlighted the advantages of this techno-logy and have led to a veritable constructionboom, initially encouraged by an electricityfeed-in act in Spain. Now, construction is under-way throughout the earth’s sun belt.

Two different systems for large-scale solar thermal electricity generation in sunny countriesare currently available:

• Line-focusing systems, which direct theconcentrated radiation in their caustic line toan absorber tube with a selective coating,reaching temperatures of up to 400 °C inthe heat transfer medium circulating there.

• Point-focusing systems, in which three- dimensionally curved, sun-tracking indivi-dual mirrors (heliostats) direct the solarradiation to a heat exchanger (receiver),which is located at the top of a tower. Thesesystems can reach higher temperatures thanthe line-focusing systems.

Both technologies aim to replace the heat generated by fossil fuels in conventional powerplants fully or partially. Their attraction is thatthe high-temperature heat generated can bestored very cost-effective (compared with electricity) and efficiently, to allow continuedoperation as clouds pass or after sunset. If lowquantities (<15%) of additional fossil combu-stion in the power plant are possible, this concept can be used to provide electricity as required with great reliability, to replace fossilfuel-fired power plant capacities fully.

Prof. Pitz-Paal et al. • Solar thermal power plants

79


Prof. Dr. Robert Pitz-Paal

[email protected]

Dr. Henner GladenSolar Millennium [email protected]

Dr. Werner PlatzerFraunhofer [email protected]

Table 1Overview of the historyof German-Spanish cooperation at PSA

1977 Initiation of the SSPS (IEA) and CESA projects (Spain)1979 Seven countries combine to build SSPS in Almería (DLR for Germany)1985 CESA and SSPS systems merge to become PSA test centre1981 First solar thermal electricity generation in Europe1987 Spanish-German cooperation agreement on 50:50 basis (DLR/CIEMAT)1990 PSA qualifies as a large-scale European system1994 First joint EU projects (DLR/CIEMAT)1998 Change of the cooperation model to project-specific cooperation2004 Start of cooperation between DLR/ Fraunhofer on Fresnel collectors2006 PSA celebrates 25th anniversary2007 First commercial electricity generation in Spain

SSPS = Small Solar Power SystemCESA = Central Electro-Solar de Almeria (solar tower)

2. International cooperation as a basis for technological development

The development of this technology was initiated as early as the late 1970s by the Inter-national Energy Agency (IEA) (Table 1).

Even that far back, Germany already played aleading role when DLR was commissioned tocoordinate the project of building the SSPS demonstration system in Almería, Spain. After ithad successfully proven that solar thermal electricity generation in Europe was possible in1981, operation of the plant was continued as atest centre under the name “Plataforma Solar deAlmería (PSA)” (Figure 1) by a partnership of theSpanish CIEMAT and DLR.

PSA developed into the European test centrewhere key commercial systems which were sub-sequently introduced on the market, were deve-loped and tested. This benefitted Spanish andGerman companies in particular. At the end ofthe 1990s, when it became clear that the tech-nology had not succeeded in specific marketpenetration, the German side had to step backits influence due to decreasing funding andsince then, it has had a guest role at PSA. In theearly 2000s, the indications of market penetra-tion of the technology in Spain increased andthe development was intensified again. Other

German research partners, e.g. Fraunhofer ISEbecame involved in these activities in 2004. TheSpanish feed-in act passed in 2004 led to theconstruction of commercial solar thermal plantsin Spain, which fed electricity into the grid in2007 for the first time.

In order to further decrease costs, however, further research and development work is required in this area. As this has always been associated with very large and expensive test infrastructure, four major European research in-stitutes pooled their expertise and infrastructurein 2003 to form the Sollab association, whichfeatures the Swiss Paul Scherer Institute (together with ETH Zurich) and the FrenchCNRS in addition to the DLR and CIEMAT. This facilitated improved access to the test infra-structure for German companies.

Another key to the spread of this technology toother countries in the sun belt was the IEA’s SolarPACES cooperation, which was based onthe previous activities in Almería, and now comprises 16 member states (Figure 2). In thisnetwork, in which DLR performs major coordi-nation activities, new markets, in particular inthe USA, Egypt, Algeria, Australia, Italy, Israel,UAE and South Africa, were opened, which arenow largely supplied by German countries.


80


Figure 1 Plata-forma Solar testcentre in Almería(Spain)

3. Market situation and therole of the German industry

Worldwide, approx. 0.6 GW of solar thermalpower plants are operated, while approximatelythe same capacity is currently under construc-tion, most of it in Spain and the USA. Otherprojects in the 6 – 8 GW range are in develop-ment around the world (Figure 3).

In particular, German and Spanish manufactu-rers are dominant. In addition to the project development and turnkey delivery of solar arrays and power station blocks, German companies are leaders in production of keycomponents such as mirrors, absorber tubesand steam turbines. In addition to this, majorGerman energy suppliers act as investors and, inthe medium-term, probably also as operators ofsolar thermal power plants.


81


Figure 2 SolarPACES network ofthe InternationalEnergy Agency (IEA)which currently has 16 member states

Figure 3 Solar thermal powerplant capacities at anadvanced planningstage

4. Competitive advantagesthrough research and development

As solar thermal power plants have no domesticmarket in Germany, the industry competes oninternational markets. Its key to success is in thedelivery of superior high-tech components andthe ability to provide system solutions from onesource. All technical and financial risks are covered. The major German companies fromthe energy industry are well positioned.

The key remains that they deliver top techno-logy and are therefore technologically alwaysone step ahead of competitors. This is wherethe German research landscape and, in particular, the Renewable Energy Research Association (FVEE) come into play, which canprepare technological development and assist inindustrial implementation. Four examples of thisare listed below.

4.1 Direct evaporation

DLR, in cooperation with German and Spanishpartners, has led the development of solarsteam generation technology, in which the thermal oil in a parabolic trough collector is replaced by water or steam, since the mid-1990s. It saves investment in the expensive special oil and the corresponding heat transfermediums, allows higher process temperaturesand thus better system efficiencies.

On the DISS test system (Direct Solar Steam) at PSA, processes were identified as safely tech-nically controllable, comprehensive componenttests were performed, and simulation modelsand control concepts were developed and validated. Also, the most recent investigationsconfirmed the economic relevance of this tech-nology.

As the next step before market introduction, thedemonstration of the overall system with multi-ple parallel evaporation trains in the power plant-relevant scale (approx. 5 MWe) is immi nent. Forthis purpose, it is planned to implement a corre-sponding pilot system with German industrialpartners in the vicinity of the planned ANDA-

SOL III power plant in Southern Spain (Figure 4),which consists of one collector array of roughly2-3 collector strings. On one hand, this collectorarray must be operated continuously to evaluateand demonstrate the long-term stability of thecomponents and the every-day operability ofthe system. On the other hand, it will be designed so flexibly that it will permit the inve-stigation of various operation strategies. A 5 –15 MWh innovative heat storage system is to beintegrated in this test system, and be subjectedto extended operation in the power plant, todemonstrate feasibility in real operation. In thedemonstration system of a Fresnel collector withthe involvement of DLR and Fraunhofer ISE atPSA, direct evaporation was used and testedsuccessfully in the last two years.

4.2 Component development and qualification

High-temperature stable efficient receiver systems are a key component for the parabolictrough and the Fresnel technology and are required by various collector companies world-wide.

With the assistance of Fraunhofer ISE and DLR,the Schott CSP Solar company developed theevacuated receiver PTR-70. With the aid of thistechnology, heat losses of the absorber tubesthrough which the heat transfer fluid flows areminimised. At an operating temperature of 380 °C, an emission level of under 7% is rea-ched in the newest coatings. The problem ofhydrogen diffusion from the thermal oil hasbeen solved via barrier coatings and getter materials. In addition to the receivers for thermal oil, pipes with reinforced steel walls are offered for direct evaporation.


82


Figure 4 50 MWe Andasolpower plants nearGuadix (Spain)

The parabolic mirrors and collector design forthe SKAL-ET collector were developed by a German company, Flagsol. The curved special mir-rors consist of white glass coated with silverwhich has a thickness of 4 to 5 mm. The mirroare 2 to 2.8 square metres in size. The companalso supplies the control systems for the solararray, a key component for operating the oversystem. In linear Fresnel collectors, high-temperature stable absorber tubes are also used,which are stable up to 450 °C in air. The secondary concentrators, which consist of borosilicatmirrors coated on the front by Fraunhofer ISE,can also withstand elevated temperature loads

With concentrating primary mirrors and parablic trough, Fresnel and tower heliostats, the optimal focusing of the sun on the respectivereceiver structure is important. With highly- developed characterisation and qualificationmethods for the mirror components, both FVEinstitutes contribute to quality assurance inpower plant construction. Important elementsinclude ensuring the mirror shape, spectral re-flectivity and the endurance of the componentThe question of measurement and in particularthe degradation of complete collector arrays requires further development of the methodsused to date. Standardisation of the methods is advanced worldwide as part of the IEA Solar-Paces programme.

-

rsy

all-

-e

.

o-

E

s.

4.3 Operation optimisation via forecasts

The system developed in the CSP FoSyS projectwill serve to predict electricity production of anindividual power plant. Currently, no such inte-grated systems are available. Therefore, CSPpower plants only operate with restrictions onthe day-ahead and intraday electricity market,which means that they lose out on major eco-nomic advantages.

The project distinguishes three applications forthis type of a prediction system:

1. Participation in the Spanish electricity market

2. The application for the license for grid access

3. The optimisation of power plant operationwith the aspects of maintenance, solar arraycontrol, production planning and safety

The prototype resulting from the project is to beintegrated in the parabolic trough power plantAndasol 3. However, the prototype is to be modular, which means that only a part, thepower plant model, is specialised for the tech-nology of a parabolic trough power plant. Thus,a product derived from the prototype can beused for all concentrating technologies, whichuse direct radiation as an energy source. For thispurpose, only the power plant modelling mustbe adapted to other technologies.

Even the legal conditions which are analysed inthis study, generally do not depend on the se-lected technology. That means that the samelegal conditions can be used in nearly all cases,both for parabolic trough technology and in theother concentrating technologies.

4.4 UniSolar

Currently, massive expansion of solar thermalpower plant capacity in the states of NorthAfrica is being discussed intensively. An exampleof this is the DESERTEC concept co-developedby DLR. This power plant expansion aims toproduce electricity at low cost in North Africa insolar thermal power plants, and to transport itto Europe and Germany in particular via highvoltage direct current lines. In the mediumterm, it is planned to source 15% of Europeanelectricity requirements from these sources. Inorder to implement this massive expansion, political, technical, economic and socio-politicalpriorities must be set at an early stage. The implementation of the DESERTEC concept thusalso supports the heightened cooperation between the EU member states and countries ofthe Southern Mediterranean as part of theUnion for the Mediterranean. UniSolar, fundedby the German Federal Foreign Office, is basedon this concept and can be viewed as a firststep to practical implementation.

The objective of the project is the technologicalcooperation and targeted support of thosecountries in North Africa, which just started im-plementing the first solar thermal power plants.Technical optimisation options for commissio-ning and operation are to be used specificallyand contribute to increasing the efficiency ofthe solar power plant section and the overall

83

Prof. Pitz-Paal et al. • Solar thermal power plants FVEE • AEE Topics 2009

electricity generation. The local capacities areto be expanded via educational programmes, training courses, workshops and technologytransfer, and a specific cooperation with theGerman industry is to be made possible. Thedistribution of the technology is to be guaran-teed via correspondingly trained and supportedlocal contacts and networking with one anot-her. They can competently accompany and support project developments and technologydevelopments in the target countries. Thesemeasures are intended to promote sustainableimplementation of solar power plants and thedevelopment is to be speeded up via multipliereffects.

Target groups for the expansion of capacitiesand distribution of the technology on the NorthAfrican side are research institutes, universities,industrial companies, experts, engineeringfirms, decision-makers and power supply companies in Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. Other states in Africa are to be addedduring the course of the project.

The Renewable Academy Berlin, with the support of Fraunhofer ISE, also offers workshopson solar thermal power plants around the worldfor decision-makers and engineers as part of theTREE project (Transfer Renewable Energy & Efficiency) funded by BMU.

5. Summary and outlook

A technologically leading role is the require-ment for participating successfully in the rapidlygrowing market for solar thermal power plants.

The lack of a domestic market requires globaloperating companies and an internationallywell-networked research and access to test facilities in the sun belt. Both is currently thecase; however, rapidly increasing research budgets, in particular in the USA, China and theGulf states, can lead to a shift in the market inthe medium term. Therefore, public researchand development budgets adjusted for the increasing turnover of the companies and theirown research expenditure must be added tomaintain a leading role in Germany.


84


Concentrating photovoltaics (CPV)for countries with high direct irradiation

1. Introduction

The ultimate objective of all research work inthe area of photovoltaics (PV) is to reduce thecosts for PV-generated energy and thus to provide a sustainable energy supply.

The current market is dominated by Si modules.Technologies on a thin-film basis (a-Si, CIGS,CdTe) reached industrial mass production in thelast two years.

Concentrator photovoltaics are an alternativeapproach to reduce the costs per PV-generatedkWh. The underlying idea is easy to understand:This technology reduces the need for compara-tively expensive solar cell area, by focusing thesunlight via a low-cost optical concentrator. A small cell which converts the high irradianceefficiently is the target for the focused light. Inorder to concentrate the sunlight sufficiently,the system must track the sun’s path. Therefore,the concentrator systems are particularly suit-able for countries with a high direct irradiation.

Concentrator systems are preferred as PV powerplants in the kW-MW power range. The interestin this technology increased significantly in recent years, as the costs were reduced and system efficiencies of over 25% were reached inthe field [1].

2. The technological basis ofconcentrator photovoltaics

Concentrator photovoltaics are characterised bythe fact that the individual components such ascells, cooling, concentrator optics and trackingare highly interdependent and therefore mustbe optimised as a whole. Concentrator photo-voltaics must therefore be viewed as an integra-tive technological approach. For example, thetracking precision requirements for the mecha-nics can be reduced if the optical concentratoris designed accordingly by using a secondstage. This in turn can result in increased complexity during the assembly process. Thisexample shows the concatenation of technolo-gies and the complexity in the development ofa concentrator system. Therefore, there is noone concentrator system – each system must bedeveloped and analysed individually. As a result,there is a variety of possible system implementa-tions.

The true evaluation of a concentrator system isnot revealed until in the application, and is specified via the costs per generated kilowatt-hour (€/kWh). Of course, this evaluation valuedepends on the irradiation conditions, and thuson the location.

The variety of concentrator system approachesis easiest to explain by applying the concentra-tion factor. The concentration factor of currentsystems ranges from 2 to 1000. Figure 1 showstwo examples of system components: On theleft, the low-concentrating ARCHIMEDES systemdeveloped at the ZSW in Stuttgart. It uses Siconcentrator cells and has a single-axis trackingsystem. On the right, the high-concentratingFLATCON system developed at the FraunhoferISE in Freiburg, and prepared for market intro-duction by Concentrix Solar, Freiburg. This

Bett et al. • CPV for countries with high direct irradiation

85


Fraunhofer ISE

Dr. Andreas W. [email protected]

Dr. Bruno [email protected]

Joachim [email protected]

Tobias [email protected]

Dr. Oliver [email protected]

Dr. Matthias [email protected]

ZSW

Hans-Dieter [email protected]

Concentrix SolarGmbHBötzinger Str. 3179111 Freiburg

Dr. Andreas [email protected]

Hansjörg Lerchenmü[email protected]

system uses III-V semiconductor multiple solarcells and has a two-axis tracking system and aconcentration factor of 380.

The following section discusses the main components of a concentrator system briefly:

The optical concentrator

As optical concentrators, either lenses or mirrorsare used. A second optical stage which is gene-rally mounted directly on the solar cell is oftenused. Fresnel lenses are often used instead ofheavy solid lenses. They require less materialand can be produced more cost effectively.Where lenses are used, imaging errors, in particular chromatic aberrations, must be takeninto account when designing the system. Mirrorsystems have advantages in such cases. Thechallenge for the mirrors is to produce highly-

reflective coatings with long-term warrantiescost-effectively. Figure 2 is a schematic represen-tation of various optical concentration conceptsas currently used in systems.

The concentrator cell

The cells used in concentrator systems mustdeal with the high irradiance and the resultinghigh currents. Therefore, there is no one bestconcentrator solar cell. The solar cell technologymust be adapted for the concentration factor.

Resistance losses scale quadratically with thecurrent densities, which requires a higher degree of metallisation of the solar cells, whichin turn increases shading losses. Also, the solarcell is not lit homogenously, depending on theoptical concentrator, which can be taken into account by designing the front contact grid


86


Figure 1 Left: Low-concentratingARCHIMEDES system(ZSW)

Right: High-concentra-ting FLATCON system(Fraunhofer ISE/ Concentrix Solar)

Figure 2 Examples of opticalconcentrators:

Upper left: AsphericalTIR (total internal reflection) lens in combination with a secondary lens directlyon the cell

Lower left: Fresnel lens

Centre: Fresnel domelens in combinationwith a ray homo -geniser

Upper right: Casse-grain lens, where thelight is routed via aparabolic mirror to asmall secondary mirrorand then to the cellFLATCON system deve-loped at the Fraunho-fer ISE in Freiburg, andprepared for market introduction by Concentrix Solar, Freiburg. This systemuses III-V semiconduc-tor multiple solar cellsand has a two-axistracking system and aconcentration factor of380.

accordingly. Therefore, the “optimal” solar celldesign is highly dependent on the system design. In general, it can be said that onlyslightly modified industrial silicon solar cells areused, in particular for low concentration ranges(Figure 1, left). Figure 3 shows an example of celldevelopment at Fraunhofer ISE [2]. Here, themetal wrap trough (MWT) solar cell was modi-fied such that it can be used for concentrationfactors of up to 20 depending on the design.

Multiple solar cells, in which different III-V semiconductor materials are deposited aboveone another, allow extremely high efficienciesto be reached. This cell type is used in high-con-centrating systems. Figure 4 shows the coatingstructure and characteristic curve of the Fraunhofer ISE record solar cell which reachesan efficiency of 41.1% at a concentration factorof 454 suns [3].

Trackers

Tracking systems have been utilised to an in-creasing extent for flat modules, as tracking canbe expected to increase the yield by between20-35% [4]. As a result of this development,there are now multiple providers of tracking systems on the market, which benefits concen-trator photovoltaics. However, the precision andstability requirements for concentrator systemsare significantly higher. The required precisiondepends on the concentration factor and on theoptics used in the system. As a guideline value,a concentrating system with a factor of 500 aimsfor and reaches mechanical precision of 0.1 °.

A good control system is important to reach thisgoal. At Fraunhofer ISE in recent years, a deve-lopment has been pursued, which integratesthe tracker control into the inverter electronics:

87

Bett et al. • CPV for countries with high direct irradiation FVEE • AEE Topics 2009

Konzentration C (xAM 1.5g)

Figure 3 Left: Photo of a MWT-Si concentrator solarcell Right: Dependingon the technologyused, the cell can beused up to a concen-tration factor of 20

Figure 4 Current voltage characteristic curve ofa monolithic triplesolar cell fromGaInP/GaInAs/Gewhen illuminatedunder 454 times solarconcentration. An efficiency of 41.1%was measured. Even ata solar concentrationof 800, an efficiency of40.8% is reached.

Pitch 2.05 mmPitch 1.48 mmPitch 0.75 mm

The resulting tracker inverter reduces the costsof the concentrator system. For low-concentra-ting photovoltaics, a single-axis tracking systemwith a mechanical precision in the degree rangeis often sufficient. In general it can be statedthat the reliability of the tracking system is not aproblem and that the power consumption forthe drive on average is significantly lower than100 W [5], which is negligible with system sizesin the kW range.

3. Concentrator systems inoperation

Concentrix Solar manufactures high-concentra-ting FLATCON concentrator modules. Since autumn 2008, a production line with a capacityof 25 MW has been available. This fully-automa-ted production line is used to produce moduleswith efficiencies of 27%. The modules aremounted on two-axis tracking units. The nominal system capacity is 6 kW. Figure 5 showsa photo of a Concentrix concentrator systemand a measured DC characteristic curve of thesystem. With favourable irradiation conditions,DC system efficiencies of over 26% have beenreached.


88


Figure 5 Left: FLATCON concentrator system by Concentrix Solar. The aperture area is28.8 m². On the right,the measured DC characteristic curve ofthe system is shown.An efficiency of 26%was measured.

Figure 6 Left: Photos of the 100 kW systems in Seville (top) and Puertollano (bottom)in Spain.

On the right, the maximum AC powerplant efficiency of thetwo systems from Mayto September 2009 isshown.

voltage [V]

date

elec

tric

ity [A]

Max

imum

AC

pow

er p

lant

effi

cien

cy [%

]

Date 24/07/2009Time 08:03 UTCDNI: 841 W/m2

Impp 8.5 AVmpp 754 VPmpp 6.4 kWFill factor 79.3%

Aperture area 28.8 m2

DC efficiency 26%

Seville

Puertollano

01/05/2009 01/05/2009 01/05/2009

Figure 6 shows the maximum AC efficiency fromMay to September 2009 for two 100 kW powerplants at the sites in Seville and Puertollano inSpain. The efficiencies remained constantly significantly above 20%, and peak values of upto 24% were reached.

4. Summary and conclusion

Concentrating photovoltaics have now reacheda development level at which the transitionfrom laboratory to industrial manufacturing hasbeen made. This technology can now penetratethe market. The cost and yield analyses lead usto expect that CPV systems on sites with highdirect irradiation can reach electricity genera-tion costs which are significantly lower thanthose for classic PV technology. If these forecastsare proven true in the coming two years, thistechnology will grow rapidly.

Literature

[1] A. Hakenjos, J. Wüllner, H. Lerchenmüller,Proc. 22nd European Photovoltaic SolarEnergy Conference, 2007, pp. 156-159.

[2] T. Fellmeth et al., 24th European Photovol-taic Solar Energy Conference, Hamburg2009

[3] W. Guter, J. Schöne, S. P. Philipps, M. Steiner, G. Siefer, A. Wekkeli, E. Welser,E. Oliva, A. W. Bett, F. Dimroth, Appl. Phys.Letter, 2009, 94, 223504

[4] H. D. Mohring, H. Gabler, Proc. 29th IEEEPhotovoltaics Specialists Conference, 2002,pp. 1608-1611.

[5] V. D. Rumyantsev, V. M. Andreev, N. A.Sadchikov, A. W. Bett, F. Dimroth et al., PV in Europe – From PV Technology toEnergy Solutions Conference and Exhibition, 2002, pp. 521-525.


89


Requirements for integration of wind energy into the grids of variouscountries

Introduction

In Europe and around the world, wind energy isdeveloping at an incredible growth rate. Coun-tries such as Denmark, Germany and Spain havecreated a major foundation for integrating windenergy with their pioneering work. In 2030,wind energy is to provide more than 25% ofthe electricity requirement in Europe [1].

This high percentage of wind energy generationpresents an enormous challenge for reliable andsafe integration of wind energy in supply grids.As a consequence, the need to manage windfarms like conventional power plants in terms ofpredictability and grid compatibility is increa-sing in order to guarantee a reliable and safe in-tegration of wind energy. The country-specificregulations and requirements for the energymarket and electricity grids are framework con-ditions which must be taken into account whendeveloping system technology and the tools forplanning, monitoring and management.

The term “power plant properties for windfarms” indicates that wind energy generationmust be controllable and reliable in accordancewith the system requirements, and that windturbines must support the electric grid in theevent of disturbances. These capabilities arebased on management of active and reactivepower of the wind farms and their reactions inthe event of grid disturbances such as fault ridethrough [2] capability, an ability with whichwind turbines can survive temporary voltagedrops and thus contribute to grid stability.

Grid integration status

One of the largest barriers to further develop-ment of wind energy technology is the restricted capacity of the transmission grids.Large-scale balancing of wind energy feedingby transporting energy long distances decreasesmajor fluctuations to a great extent [3]. Thisrequ ires an efficient and sustainable expansionand strengthening of the European transmissiongrid and, in particular, of the connection points,in conjunction with detailed planning and earlydetection of grid bottlenecks at a Europeanlevel.

Future reliable and economic grid planning andsafe grid operation also require reliable monito-ring, better understanding and precise predicta-bility of the respective grid status. This results inthe need for improved monitoring, simulationand prediction tools, in conjunction with dynamic analysis and evaluation of the joint European system.

The development status of wind energy use inEurope is very different in the individual countries. For example, the installed capacity inGermany and Spain is at a double-figure giga-watt level, followed by Italy, France, Great Britain, Denmark and Portugal.

Worldwide, currently approx. 130,000 MW ofwind capacity are installed, and the growth rateis immense. In some countries, wind power generation at times covers more than half of theentire load (Denmark, Spain). The challenges foran electric energy supply system with a veryhigh proportion of wind energy are

• The variability of wind energy feeds,• Forecast errors for wind feeds,• The electric grid for absorbing and transpor-

ting wind energy.

Dr. Rohrig et al. • Requirements for the grids in various countries

90


Fraunhofer IWES

Dr. Kurt Rohrigkurt.rohrig@ iwes.fraunhofer.de

Dr. Bernhard [email protected]

Reinhard MackensenFraunhofer [email protected]

The grid integration status quo in these coun-tries is such that the grid can largely absorb andtransport the energy from the turbines whichexist today. However, the grids in some coun-tries are rapidly approaching their capacity limits. When comparing the requirements forgrid integration in various countries, it is notsufficient to use the installed wind capacity as ameasurement variable. The impact of windpower feeding on grid operation also dependson the following factors:

• The percentage of wind power in the grid(% min, % avg, % max)

• The variability of the load

• The flexibility of the conventional powerplant infrastructure

• Ways of increasing the flexibility of generation and load

• The structure of the grid (wind locations –load centres)

The degree of penetration can be measured bythe energy or powerWind energy penetration inEuropean countries.

In the IEA Wind Annex 25 [4], the penetrationwas also measured based on the minimum loadand the grid capacity. This representation shows


91


Wind capacity

Inter- 2007 MaximumLoad connection investigated Maximum penetration

Region/ Peak MW Min MW TWh/a MW MW MW TWh/a % % %case study

Peak Con- (Min load+ load sumtion interconn)

West Denmark real 3700 1300 21 2830 2380 5,00 65% 24% 58%Denmark 2025 7200 2600 38 5190/6790 3125 6500 20,20 90% 53% 83%/69%Irleand 2020 9600 3500 54 1000 900 6000 19,00 63% 35% 178%Portugal 8800 4560 49,2 1000 2150 5100 12,80 58% 26% 92%UK 76000 24 427 2000 2389 38000 115,00 50% 27% 146%Germany 2015 77955 41000 552,3 10000 22247 36000 77,20 46% 14% 71%Spain 2011 53400 21500 246,2 2400 15145 17500 33% 19% 73%Sweden 26000 13000 140 9730 788 8000 20,00 31% 14% 35%

Table 1Wind capacity installedworldwide.Diagram: Fraunhofer IWES

Table 2Wind energy penetration in European countries

GermanyUSA Spain China India Italy France UK Danmark PortugalInstalled in 2009

Installed in 2008

Installed in 2007

Installed in 2006

Installed in 2005

Installed in 2004

Installed in 2003

Installed in 2002

Installed in 2001

Actual decembre2000

Actual july 2000 29245 26647 17140 12276 10242 3950 3638 3625 3169 3134

the challenges at high wind feed rates in lowload periods. It also illustrates the special features of stand-alone systems compared withwell-connected areas.

Table 2 shows the current and expected pene-tration of wind energy in some countries inEurope. For example, in Germany it is expectedto reach 14% of peak load and 71% of the minimal load by 2015. With this high penetra-tion rate, wind capacity will soon significantlyexceed the load in many countries. The windpower generated must therefore be transportedlong distances to facilitate an exchange. One ofthe main tasks for research and the industry isto develop future grid planning tools for designing a sustainable, powerful European gridinfrastructure. In particular, the new internatio-nal offshore connections and an offshore super-grid must be designed.

Future challenges

Grouping multiple large-scale offshore windfarms and other distributed wind turbine groupsto wind farm clusters [5] opens up new ways ofoptimally integrating yield-dependent genera-tion into electric supply systems. The Wind farmCluster Management System (WCMS) develo-ped by Fraunhofer IWES is responsible for grou-ping the geographically distributed wind farmsfor optimal grid operation management and

minimisation of the reserve and balancing capa-city requirement, and mapping and managingit as a single large-scale power plant feedinginto multiple extra-high voltage nodes. With theaid of new operating management concepts foractive and reactive power control, higher levelsof wind power can be integrated in supply systems.

As a result of the system topology, the followingsystem levels must be considered:

• Individual wind turbine• Individual wind farm• Geographical, grid-topology and control-

technical grouping of multiple wind farms toa wind farm cluster

For modern wind farms and with correspondingwind farm controllers, the following control andoperation management strategies are currentlystate-of-the-art or achievable:

• Feeding reactive power based on setpointspecifications

• Maximum value restriction based on set-point specifications

• Compliance with maximum gradients basedon setpoint specifications

• Power restriction in the event of excess frequency

The following advanced strategies can also beimplemented using the options above:


92


gradient control

t t+i t+j t+ntime

P [MW]

300

200

100

Figure 1 Active power control –gradient control withWCMS.Diagram: Fraunhofer IWES

• Scheduled specifications (time-variable spe-cification of maximum values)

• Voltage control in high/extra-high voltagegrids

• Rapid voltage control in medium-voltagegrids

• Provision of balancing capacity

Based on these options, future control and ope-ration management strategies can be derivedfor wind farms:

• Reactive power feed• Generation management• Scheduled specifications• Voltage control at high and extra-high vol-

tage levels• Provision of balancing capacity• Primary control capacity

Literature

[1] Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) from2008 to 2030; European Wind EnergyTechnology Platform, Brüssel, Juli 2008

[2] dena Netzstudie I

[3] Wilhelm Winter; European Wind Integra-tion Study (EWIS); Tagungsband 14. Kasse-ler Symposium Energiesystemtechnik;Kassel; 2009

[4] Hannele Holttinen; Impacts of largeamounts of wind power on design andoperation of wind power systems; Tagungsband 14. Kasseler SymposiumEnergiesystemtechnik; Kassel; 2009

[5] Abschlussbericht zum Forschungsvorhaben„Integration großer Offshore-Windparks inelektrische Versorgungssysteme“; Fraunhofer IWES; Kassel; 2009


93


Fraunhofer IWES

Dr. Philipp Strauß[email protected]

Markus [email protected]

Michel Vandenberghmvandenbergh@ iset.uni-kassel.de

Fraunhofer ISE

Georg [email protected]

Brisa [email protected]

Dr. Matthias [email protected]

Alliance for RuralElectrification

Guido [email protected]

SMA Solar Techno-logy AG

Michael [email protected]

Introduction

The electrification of off-grid rural regions playsan essential role for a basic level of supply, inparticular for economic development. Depen-ding on the local framework conditions, diffe-rent technical system concepts and businessmodels are suitable for sustainable provision of areliable and cost-effective supply of electricity.From small solar home systems, hybrid systemswith photovoltaics, biomass, wind and hydro-power, to multi-megawatt stand-alone gridswhich can be integrated in integrated gridstructures, FVEE member institutes, togetherwith industrial companies, develop technical so-lutions, test systems and components and runtrials in realistic conditions.

In addition to this, new financing and businessmodels are proposed, which are intended tocreate incentives for investment, and supportsustainable operation and possible expansion ofthe systems. Advantages result from the use ofdifferent renewable energy sources, which,

thanks to the suitable system technology, areoften competitive with standard diesel stationsor conventional grid expansion.

Solar home systems (SHS)

A simple solar home system (SHS) for basic elec-trification consists of the following components:a solar generator, battery and charge controller,as well as the directly connected DC consumers.An optional inverter can also be used to supplyAC consumers (Figure 1).

Such systems are used to supply energy-savinglamps, an increasing number of LED lamps, andsome radios, televisions and refrigerators. TheSHS charge controller connects the solar mo-dule (15..150 Wp) to the battery and the elec-tricity consumers. It protects the battery againstovercharging and deep discharge. As storagedevice, lead batteries with liquid electrolyte,bound in gel or fleece in a few systems, with astorage capacity of 3 to 5 days, are used almost

Off-grid power supply and globalelectrification

Strauß et al. • Off-grid power supply and global electrification

94


Figure 1 Block circuit diagramof a solar home systemwith inverter(Source: SMA)

exclusively. All components must satisfy deman-ding requirements – in terms of efficiency, relia-bility and ease of operation. This is whyFraunhofer ISE develops and tests SHS compo-nents in the laboratory.

Worldwide, there are currently major program-mes for widespread distribution of SHS, such asin Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, India,Morocco or South Africa. The possibility of sup-plying remote households decentrally, simplyand independently with electricity using SHS isconsidered a particular advantage of this tech-nology. By contrast to central plants, these sy-stems can be the property of the end users.However, even if the system is operated by aRESCO (Rural Energy Supply Company) anddoes not belong to the user, there is always a di-rect correlation for the user between their per-sonal consumption and the status of the system.This reduces the coordination work comparedwith concepts featuring central supply.

In Ecuador for example, PV systems are subsi-dised by the state with the aid of a rural electri-fication fund (FERUM). Every year, new projectscan apply for this funding. The PV systems forbasic electrification consist of a 100 Wp solargenerator and a 105 Ah battery for supplyingDC consumers (three energy-saving lamps, oneradio and a black and white television). In addi-tion to this, PV systems with inverters in twosizes up to 200 Wp and over 200 Wp have beensubsidised since 2007/2008. Now, systems withup to 800 Wp are installed at end customers’ lo-cations.

Funding is US$3,200 or US$3,500 per house-hold. The size and configuration of the indivi-dual systems are specified according to therequirements of the applicants or end users. Assome areas are difficult to reach, the fundingalso takes transport costs into account.

Standardisation of components reduces costs.The local operator model, in which technicaltraining by RESCOS and funding play an impor-tant role, is an important success of the PV pro-ject in Ecuador. End users must make monthlypayments. As part of the DOSBE EU project[1a,b], Fraunhofer ISE was involved in the deve-lopment of this operator model.

Hybrid systems

Supplying electric consumers in off-grid locati-ons is challenging if it must be guaranteed con-tinuously all year-round. Seasonal fluctuations ofthe energy from the sun, wind and water in par-ticular mean that supply solutions which rely so-lely on one energy source require significantinvestments for electricity storage.Systems with different electricity sources areknown as hybrid systems. Common combinati-ons include PV-diesel or wind-diesel systems.Combinations of photovoltaic generators, windturbines and diesel motors are also widespread.


95


Figure 2 Hybrid system withDC-AC connection(Source: SMA)

Figure 3 Hybrid system with ACconnection (Source: SMA)

Hybrid systems can be designed as DC systems,mixed DC/AC systems or pure AC systems.DC/AC systems are often used in farms or othersmall companies. When designing systems,planners must take into account that the inver-ter power must match the overall maximumconsumer power. Mixed DC/AC systems areparticularly suitable for combining medium ACloads with DC generators. At the same time,this also allows the battery on the DC side to becharged via a combustion generator (Figure 2).

Pure AC hybrid systems can be set up flexiblywith modular components (Figure 3). Depen-ding on the application and the availableenergy sources, renewable and conventional

energy carriers can be incorporated. If thepower converters and combustion generatorsare intended for the purpose, they can also beconnected to the public grid.

The system is easy to expand via additionalcomponents or electricity generators to copewith increasing energy requirements. A mass-produced modular system for AC connected hybrid systems was built and tested for the firsttime in the European „Hybrix“ project [2] byBP-Solar, SMA and Fraunhofer IWES (Figure 4).It is now in use worldwide. This type of systemcan be used to supply all standard electric ACdevices.


96


Figure 4 Wind-photovoltaics-diesel-hybrid system inSpain(Source: Fraunhofer IWES)

Figure 5 Modular system for AC connected hybridsystems(Source: SMA)

From an economic perspective, stand-alone systems with battery storage in the kilowattpower range are far less expensive than systemswhich use diesel generators only. Even largerhybrid systems which additionally use a dieselgenerator to avoid long-term battery storagecan be operated at lower costs than stations inwhich diesel motors alone are used. The reasonsfor this are the high maintenance work requi-red, the short service life and the very poor partial load efficiency of diesel generators.

In power supply systems away from the integra-ted grids, it is primarily the expandability andthe type of connection of the individual compo-nents which play an important part. The ACconnection with battery inverters which can beconnected in parallel (Sunny IslandTM) can connect almost any kind of power generatorsand all standard consumers to the hybrid sy-stem. Figure 5 shows typical generators whichcan be combined easily using the SELFsync®

control technology patented by FraunhoferIWES. The system is easy to expand on the consumer side and on the generator side.

Stand-alone grids and micro-grids

Stand-alone grids can be used for several remote houses or loads outside the integratedgrid. Grid interconnection levels the load profileand increases the supply security. Stand-alonegrids can be fed from a central power plant, a

hybrid system or multiple decentralised electri-city sources. In the integrated grid, the numberof consumer-related independent generation systems, e.g. photovoltaic systems and combi-ned heat and power plants, has increased significantly in recent decades. This technologycan also be used for stand-alone grids. However,high decentralised power inputs may not endanger the stability of the grid.

Feed-in tariffs could be used to create incentivesfor investments and for sustainable operation ofthe remote generators in the stand-alone grid.In this way, grid participants with more financialclout could help to finance the overall systemand would thus also ensure that it runssmoothly.

In principle, a collectively supported feed-in tariff could be used for such systems, similar tothe German Renewable Energy Sources Act(EEG). The WG 4 – Rural Electrification workinggroup of the European PV technology platformdeveloped a proposal for this [3]. The technicalfeasibility of such stand-alone systems was demonstrated on the Greek island of Kythnos(Figure 6). This is similar to independent generation in the integrated grid, but researchis still required for organisational implementa-tion.


97


Figure 6 Stand-alone grid withdistributed feed fromPV systemsSource: Fraunhofer IWES

Stand-alone grids can be connected to oneanother or to the integrated grid using suitable,i.e. grid compatible control technology. This allows so-called micro-grids to be formed temporarily, which can then continue to operate without problems even if the main gridfails (Figure 7).

It was proven [5] that a variation of the grid frequency – imperceptible to the user – is suitable to derate excess solar power fairly (Figure 8).

A continuous decentralised derating of PV systems becomes necessary when the batteries are fully charged and electricity is in relatively low demand. It is crucial that the PV systems installed in houses are derated in afair manner. This is achieved automatically byincreasing the grid frequency. Figure 9 demon-strates this for houses on the island of Kythnos.


98


Figure 7 Bidirectional transitions from thedomestic supply viastand-alone grids tothe integrated grid [4]

Figure 8 Derating the decentralised feedingPV generators. Thepower inputs of the PVgenerators before andduring the derating.[5]

Financing and business models

The best-known financing model for SHS world-wide is via micro-loans, which also enables poorrural population strata to purchase small systems. Financial scope for paying down theloan is provided by the dropped costs for kero-sene. In its basic form, this business modelworks without government subsidies. It is widely recognised as being highly successfuland is increasingly supported by developmentinstitutions.

The Grameen Shakti Bank in Bangladesh is aninternationally recognised pioneer. It offersthe customer not only financing but also guarantees professional installation and maintenance by certified and specially trainedcontractors. To date, Grameen Shakti has financed more than 200,000 systems.

Common business models for solar home systems also include leases (e.g. SolarLuz), the„Fee for Service Model“ (e.g. the MoroccanPERG-Programme, based on a Public PrivatePartnership) and subsidies for the acquisitioncosts [6].

Given the very low income levels, mini-grids inrural areas of developing countries are generallynot economically self-supporting. A commonform of financing that allows independent elec-tricity generators to make profit is a subsidy onthe investment combined with tariffs coveringoperating costs for end customers [7].

This model, for example, is often used by African “Rural Electrification Agencies”. In practice, however, it has often been shown thatthe users’ low capacity or willingness to paycauses the cash flow of these projects to remainbelow expectations.The moment the batteries need replacing is therefore generally regarded as critical to thesustainability of this financing model.

Following the feed-in tariff, the Joint ResearchCentre of the European Commission (JRC) developed a tariff concept tailored to mini-gridsin cooperation with the EU PV technology platform named Regulated Purchase Tariff (RPT),which is a strong incentive for independentelectricity producers to continuously operatethe system while giving financial leeway for required repairs and replacements of system


99


Derating PV

PV power [W]

house 10

house 8

house 7

house 5

house 4

components. Depending on the actual electri-city generation, compensation guaranteed bythe government will be granted, which will ensure the sustained operation of the system incombination with the user fees. This model hasyet to be tested in practice. The RPT corresponds to the development policies of out-put based aid, which is becoming increasinglyimportant.

Summary

In order to electrify off-grid regions, systems inthe range of under 50 watts to systems of several megawatts were developed that are fedwith renewable energy.

Very small systems which are privately ownedby the electricity consumers are already operated sustainably worldwide. There are alsoappropriate financing and operator models.

An even greater challenge are the so-calledmini-grids that can be successfully operated asstand-alone grids but which impose significantlyhigher requirements to the organisational framework. The advantage of grid interconnec-tion is both the equalisation of generation andload and the higher energy yield as less powerhas to be stored or derated.The goal is to build power supply grids for densely populated areas which offer a securesupply and a high grid quality and can possiblylater operate in an integrated grid. The chal-lenge now is to develop financing and supportmodels and to provide incentives for investorsand the sustainable operation of the power supply systems that can be used in the respective regional socio-cultural environments.The “Renewable Energy Regulated Purchase Tariff” [3] is a viable model especially for stand-alone grids which, however, still needs to be tested in practice.

The development of grid-compatible stand-alone systems, which has been promoted inGermany since the nineties, has also allowed fora technological edge for the next generation ingrid technology of integrated grids. The syste-matic introduction of modern information andcommunication technology at the distribution

grid level, promoted under the slogan “SmartGrids”, also benefits from this preliminary work.An example is the so-called micro-grid that canwork as a distribution grid in an integrated gridand, in the case of a blackout, can ensure supply as a stand-alone system.

Acknowledgement

The research upon which this article is basedwould not have been possible without the support of the German Federal Ministry for theEnvironment, Nature Conservation and NuclearSafety (BMU) and the European Commission.


100


Literaturliste

[1a] DOSBE – Development of Electricity ServiceOperators for Poverty Alleviation in Ecua-dor and Peru. Intelligent Energy – Europe(IEE). Project: EIE/06/255/SI2.447982.http://www.dosbe.org.

[1b] B. Ortiz, M. A. Egido-Aquilera, P. Arranz, P. Jaquin: Support and Development ofLocal Electricity Service Providers in Ecua-dor and Peru, 24th European PhotovoltaicSolar Energy Conference and Exhibition,Hamburg, Germany, 2009

[2] HYBRIX Project: „Plug and Play Technologyfor Hybrid Systems“, co-financed by theEuropean Commission under the ContractNo CT1999-13-05-1.

[3] M. Moner-Girona (Editor): A new Schemefor the Promotion of Renewable Energies inDeveloping Countries: The RenewableEnergy Regulated Purchase Tariff; EuropeanComission JRC Institute fpr Environmentand Sustainability, Ispra (VA), Italy, 2008.

[4] Ph. Strauß, A. Engler: AC Coupled PV Hybrid Systems and Micro Grids – State ofthe Art and Future Trends; 3rd World Con -ference on Photovoltaic Energy Conver-sion, Osaka, Japan, 11.-18. May 2003.

[5] Ph. Strauß: Einfluss des Frequenzverhaltenskleiner Generatoren und Lasten auf Strom-netze unter besonderer Berücksichtigunggroßer Netzstörungen, Dissertation Univer-sität Kassel, T&S Publishers, Kassel, 2009.ISBN 978-3-00-029475-4.

[6] S. Gölz, G. Bopp, E. Preissler: SHS-Modelleim Praxisvergleich, Projekterfahrungen mitKredit-Modellen und dem Betreiber-Ansatz,20. Symposium Photovoltaische Solarener-gie, Staffelstein, 2005

[7] A. Graillot, X. Vallve, G. Bopp, et al: CostEfficient and Reliable Rural ElectrificationSchemes for South Mediterranean CountriesBased on Multi User Solar Hybrid Micro-Grids (Cresmed), 24th European Photovol-taic Solar Energy Conference andExhibition, Hamburg, Germany, 2009


101


102


103

Strategic research objectives

• Future mobility based on renewable energies

• Integration of renewable energies into electricity and heat supply

• New strategic challenges for research and developmentof renewable energies

• Research for global markets –Strategic approaches of the BMU

• The area of conflict between technology transfer and intellectual property protection

• Innovation structures in Germany for technological leadership – Solar Valley Central Germany

• Panel discussion:Are Germany’s economy and research in renewable energies fit for international competition?

Future mobility based onrenewable energies

Figure 1 Vehicle concepts basedon renewable energies

In Germany, traffic accounts for about 20% ofall CO2 emissions. The main pollutant is indivi-dual traffic, i.e. cars and lorries, with about80%. The average consumption of fossil fuel pervehicle has fallen in recent years but worldwidethe total number of vehicles is continuing to increase beyond the current 900 million andtherefore also the consumption of fossil energiesand CO2 emissions along with it. High CO2

emissions that acutely threaten our environmentand the finite reserves of fossil fuels such as oiland gas are therefore, in addition to the increa-sing air pollution in urban areas, the main reasons almost all major vehicle manufacturersare working intensively on alternative vehicleconcepts.

The German federal government has recognisedthe problem and supports the development oftechnologies for battery and fuel-cell assistedelectric vehicles with its „National Electromobi-lity Development Plan“. Both share the extre-mely energy-efficient electric drives and theoption of using renewable sources such as solaror wind energy for their energy supply. Anotherpromising approach is supply based on biofuels. The ecological potential and the characteristics of all three vehicle concepts willhereinafter be briefly described and compared(Figure 1).

Battery electric vehicles (BEV)

Vehicles powered by electricity alone have anelectric motor that draws its power from an on-board battery, in contrast to conventional com-bustion engines that are powered by petrol ordiesel. The battery is regularly recharged withpower from the stationary grid. Electric motorsare very efficient with energy. Petrol or dieselvehicles convert the bulk of the chemicallybound energy within the fuel into heat. Electricdrive systems, on the other hand, use the electrical energy stored in the battery almostentirely for the drive system. Therefore, theyonly need about ¼ of the energy that a combustion engine needs (Figure 2).

However, there is still a significant disadvantage:Batteries can store only a relatively smallamount of energy per volume or weight, whichis more than an order of magnitude lower thanthat of liquid fuels. The result is that the rangeof these electric vehicles is still limited to around150-200 km. However, these vehicles still sufficefor many tasks because most of our daily jour-neys are relatively short, such as the drive towork or to the supermarket. They are thereforesuitable as vehicles for commuters, as second family cars or as an urban vehicle.

Dr. Ebert et al. • Mobility based on renewables

104


Drive system

Electric motor

Electric motor

Combustion engine

(Mobile)energy carrier

Battery

Fuel cell

Biofuels

Energy source

Electricity from renewable energy sources

H2 from renewableenergy sources

Biomass

Fraunhofer ISE

Dr. Günther Ebertguenther.ebert@ ise.fraunhofer.de

ZSW

Prof. Werner [email protected]

Dr. Michael Specht [email protected]

Fraunhofer IWES

Dr. Michael [email protected]

Dr. Bernd [email protected]

DLR

Dr. Thomas [email protected]

Jülich

Dr. Wilhelm [email protected]

Figure 2 Electric vehicles arehighly efficient.

Figure 3 Electric vehicles requireelectricity from renewables.(Source BMU)

Drivers who have to travel longer distances sometimes should opt for a so-called plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). In addition to anelectric drive, these vehicles also have a combu-stion engine that is used when the battery isempty. In extreme cases, the combustion engine only serves to generate electricity forcharging the battery. This allows for very simplevehicle designs without any kind of mechanicalconnection between combustion engine andwheels. Such plug-in hybrid electric vehicles areideal for the transitional phase from conventio-nal combustion-driven vehicles to electric vehicles. They are mostly electrically driven butsince they do not abruptly stop when the battery is empty, which is what drivers mightfear, they have great market potential as univer-sal vehicles. Electric vehicles show virtually nolocal CO2 emissions. For the total balance, ho-wever, the source of the electricity is crucial. If itis from a coal-fired power plant, which also

transforms a high proportion of primary energyinto heat instead of electricity, the emissionsturn out to be about 160 g of CO2-equivalentfor a small car – more than petrol and diesel vehicles. In this case, nothing would be gained.

With the current German electricity mix, thingsare already looking better. With just under 110g, there is already a modest improvement overconventional vehicles.

However, electric vehicles only really make senseif the electricity is largely generated with renewable energy sources, in which case negligible CO2 emissions are achievable. There-fore, the introduction of electric vehicles has tobe inextricably bound to rapid increases in theshare of renewables in our electricity generation(Figure 3).


105


electric vehicle

diesel / petrol

useful energy Losses

energy in %

100806040200

Grammes of CO2-equivalent per kilometreOperation: direct emissions of the vehicleSupply chain: emissions from extraction, manufacture and transportation

Electromobility

Petrol Diesel Electricityfrom black

coal

Germanelectricity

mix

Electricityfrom

renewableenergies

Synth. diesel

from coalBiodiesel (B100) from rape* Bioethanol (E-85)

from corn*

Figure 4 Electric vehicles requireinfrastructures.

They account for about 16% of electricity generation today. According to the pilot studyof the federal government, this percentageshould increase to 30% by 2020, 50% by 2030and 80% by 2050. As the change-over to anelectric vehicle fleet should take place in similartime frames, the supply of electric vehicles withrenewable energies would be guaranteed in themedium term.

Electric vehicles primarily draw their energyfrom the electricity grid. Thanks to the econo-mical electric drive, this kind of supply can bemanaged without any further problems. If, following the objective of the federal govern-ment, one million electric cars were driving onGerman roads by 2020, our total electricity consumption would increase by less than 0.5%and even if in a few decades all 45 million carswere to be electrically powered, electricity consumption would increase by only 20-25%.However, temporal concentrations of rechar-ging processes could lead to undesirable loadpeaks. If all vehicle owners were to rechargetheir cars at night, it could very well lead to gridoverload assuming a strong market penetrationof electric vehicles. These effects can be avoidedwith modern control technologies and flexibletariffs, made possible with the introduction ofelectronic meters: Battery electric vehicles still

have to be recharged at regular intervals but theexact timing is somewhat flexible.

This will often make it possible to recharge thevehicles selectively during favourable generationand consumption periods (Figure 4).

Imbalances in energy generation and consumption can be offset within certain limitsby choosing the time for recharging the vehicle.In addition to these temporal load shifts, it iseven possible to feed back the electrical energyfrom the vehicle batteries into the electricitygrid and thus compensate, or at least mitigate,deficits caused by a high consumption or a momentary lull in the output of wind powerplants. This is possible because the vehicles arestationary more than 90% of the time and areavailable to be connected to the grid. With ahigh proportion of electrical vehicles, a hugeelectrical energy storage can be realised thatcan effectively dampen the fluctuations of windand solar energy, thus facilitating the further expansion of renewable energy.

R&D requirements:

In addition to the further development in light-weight vehicle construction, which is especiallyimportant for electric vehicles, battery techno-logy in particular needs to be advanced.


106


fi Always charge electric vehicleswhen they are stationary

Charging options at home needto be supplemented by publiccharging infrastructures

Billing and communication system• Universal• Cost-effective• Intelligent• User friendly

Figure 5 Energy density of various storage media(Source: Toyota)

Figure 6 Comparison of diesel,hydrogen and battery-powered vehicles: volume and weight fora range of 500 km

Storage capacity, durability, cost, safety and recharging times are all still not really sufficientfor a wide acceptance of electric vehicles.

The introduction of electric vehicles also requires the creation of a recharging infrastruc-ture. As electric vehicles only have a limitedrange, they should always be connected to thegrid while stationary. In addition to domesticsockets that can be used for basic requirements,recharging possibilities at work, in front of supermarkets, in car parks or public parkingareas have to be implemented in the future. Individual charging stations as they are alreadyinstalled today on hand-selected sites are notsufficient and above all, too expensive in orderto achieve a sufficient density. A universal, affordable, user-friendly charging and billingprocess is required that allays the consumer’sfear of searching for recharging options.

Fuel cell vehicles

For many years, a number of major vehicle manufacturers have been working on electricvehicles with fuel cells as an energy source.Worldwide, there is a lot of practical experiencewith cars, lorries and buses. Currently, the vehicles on the road are in their second andthird generation. In 2010, Daimler are planninga further development of their B-Class fuel celltechnology during test operation. For 2015, ageneral market launch is planned. Compared tothe previous versions, improvements in the life-time of the fuel cell stack (> 2000 h), its perfor-mance (65 kW to 100 kW), range (from 160 kmto over 400 km), reliability and cold start abilitywere achieved.


107


Energy density relating to volume [Wh/L]

Ener

gy d

ensity

rel

atin

g to

wei

ght [W

h/kg

]

Gaseous Fuels

Liquid FuelsEthanol

High- pressurehydrogen35 MPa

CNG20 MPa

Hydrogen- absorbing alloys

Petrol

BiodieselDiesel

BatteriesLithium-ionNickel metal hydridePlumb

Fuel cell vehicles also have an electric motorthat draws its energy from a fuel cell. The fuelcell runs on pure hydrogen, which is usually stored compressed in a tank. As is the case withbattery electric vehicles, virtually no CO2 isemitted while driving. Of greater importance tothe environment, however, are the total emissi-ons of the system. These depend on how thehydrogen was produced and processed. Conventional production from natural gas leadsto emission values similar to those of batteryelectric vehicles that run on the current Germanelectricity mix, which means they are only mo-derately more favourable than conventional diesel and petrol vehicles. CO2 emissions canonly be reduced to very low levels if the hydro-gen is produced using renewable energy, suchas via electrolysis (Figure 9). The prerequisitehere is that the electricity is to be supplied fromrenewable energy sources as well.

One difference to battery electric vehicles stillremains: Compared to battery electric vehicles,the energy loss in the entire process from supplying power for electrolysis up to filling thepressure tank is several times as high, leading toa significant cost disadvantage for fuel cell vehicles in the future.

The higher energy density (Figure 5) of hydro-gen allows for perfectly acceptable ranges of400 km and more (Figure 6).

That means that the application of fuel cells inbuses and lorries remains viable. There is stillmuch room for improvement of fuel cell technology, however. Above all, this includesthe high costs, which are expected to be significantly reduced along with further techni-cal progress but above all, by the start of massproduction.

Further improvements in the durability, robust-ness and in the storage capacity of hydrogenare desirable. Another major hurdle to marketintroduction of fuel cell vehicles is the lack of ahydrogen supply infrastructure. A sufficientlydense network of hydrogen filling stations is aprerequisite for consumer acceptance but it alsorequires large investments. Nevertheless, an industrial consortium consisting of car manufac-turers and energy suppliers have recently declared they want to establish a dense fillingstation network by 2015.

Biofuels

In addition to battery electric and fuel cell vehicles, vehicles running on biofuels also offera high ecological potential. Biofuels either are apart of a closed cycle and the related plants absorb similar amounts of CO2 during theirgrowth phases as are emitted by the vehiclesduring operation or they are produced with already existing biomass. CO2 emissions rangefrom low to significant when compared to fossilfuels and depend both on the method and theindividual design.

First-generation biofuels such as biodiesel fromrape or ethanol from sugar cane that only use acertain part of the plant are considered modera-tely ecologically effective. In contrast, second-generation biofuels use the whole plant,resulting in a significantly higher CO2 reduction.

Today, biofuel has found widespread use insome countries as diesel additive or as ethanol.Worldwide however, only about 2.4% of fossilfuels are substituted by this. In general, biofuelis a limited resource. If one were to use the en-tire potential area of 3.2 million hectares for cul-tivating biofuel crops in Germany, a maximumof 20% of today’s fuel requirements could becovered.


108


Figure 7 Space requirements incomparison

However, competing alongside normal traffic,there is also air traffic for which biofuels possiblyrepresent the only viable alternative to fossilfuels, as well as the stationary sector with com-bined heat and power plants in which biofuelcan be used to an even greater advantage. Forexample, 6 t of wood is enough to produce 1 tof diesel but it can also substitute 2 t of heatingoil. The application of biofuel should thereforemainly take place where its advantages are fullyrealised. One such an area of application is theplug-in hybrid vehicle or vehicles for which anelectrification will be much more difficult to rea-lise.

A disadvantage is the high demand for land thatbiofuels have when compared to wind or solarenergy. In order to generate the annual electri-city demand of a small car running on biofuel,an area of about 5000 m2 of arable land is re-quired. For an electric vehicle with the same an-nual mileage, the roof of a single-family housewith about 20 m2 would suffice (Figure 7).

A relatively new approach relies on the produc-tion of substitute natural gas called SNG. Hydro-gen, produced via electrolysis powered eitherby wind or solar energy, is methanated in thepresence of CO2 (see Figure 6 on p. 118).This methane can then be distributed via con-ventional natural gas pipelines and used for

local electricity and heat generation and for theoperation of natural gas cars. The advantage ofthis approach is basing the vehicle’s supply onrenewable energies, the uncomplicated long-term storage, the presence of a distribution in-frastructure and the universal useability of theenergy carrier methane. In addition, methaneproduced from biomass can be included. A disadvantage, however, are the high energylosses in the process chain.

Summary

It is safe to assume that vehicles with batteryand/or fuel cell aided electric drives will succes-sively replace our conventional, primarily fossil-powered, vehicles in the private transport sectorin the decades to come because of their poten-tial environmental advantages.

Prerequisite, however, is a consistent focus onresearch and development to improve on thestill existing weaknesses such as insufficientenergy density, durability, safety, road capabilityand cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, the rapidcreation of a corresponding filling or recharginginfrastructure is called for.


109


Biodiesel + Combustion Motor 5000 m2

500 m2

1000 m2

20 m2Electricity from PV + battery powered vehicles

Hydrogen from Wind + Fuelcells

Hydrogen from Wind + Fuelcells (area agriculturally usable)

Figure 8 Well to wheel balancesof the various types ofvehicles, showing theirenergy consumptionand greenhouse gasemissions(Source: Daimler)

Regarding biofuel technology, especially theCO2 emissions from production have to be re-duced. The current processes for producing bio-diesel can only be a beginning. In general,biofuels will remain a limited resource andshould therefore mainly be used in those nichesthat do not offer any other solutions.

Luckily, the federal government is supporting alltarget areas with subsidy funds. This responsibi-lity is shared by five ministries responsible for re-search and development, economy, theenvironment, transport and agriculture.


110


Combustion engines

Fuel cell vehicle (fully driven on renewable H2)

Battery electric vehicle (driven on electricity from

100% EU mix)

Fuel cell vehicle(driven on 100% renewable

energy sources)

Plug-in hybrid with fuel cell (driven on electricity from100% renewable energy

sources)

Battery electric vehicle (driven on electricity from

100% renewableenergy sources)

Hybrid(diesel)

Hybrid(petrol)

DieselPetrolChange of

technology

Well to wheel energy consumption [MJ/100km]

Gre

enho

use

gas

emission

s [g

CO

2eq

./km

]

Fraunhofer IWES

Prof. Dr. Jü[email protected]

Uwe [email protected]

Dr. Bernhard Lange [email protected]

Dr. David Nestle [email protected]

Dr. Kurt Rohrig [email protected]

Dr. Michael Sterner [email protected]

Dr. Philipp Strauß [email protected]

Figure 1 Technological potentialof renewable energiesworldwideThe sources are noted in the chart next to the corresponding bar.

The challenge of today’s global primary energydemand and its expected increase can be metby renewable energy sources, which are knownto have a sufficient potential (Figure 1). In termsof quantity, the sun and the wind could evenmeet the demands alone but they are subject togreat fluctuations and their availability dependson the geographical location. The task is thusessentially defined as the technical and econo-mical development of renewable energy sour-ces, their integration into the supply structuresand the transformation of energy systems.

Where are renewables today?

Photovoltaics presently have a global share ofonly one-tenth of a percent but their learningcurve shows a decrease in costs by 20% foreach doubling of installed capacity. The globalshare of wind energy is already at around 1.5%.In recent years, wind energy had annualgrowths rates of 30-40%.

The coming years will be slightly lower, alt-hough the learning curve here shows a decreasein costs by 10% for each doubling of installedcapacity.

Looking at the costs plotted against the genera-ted energy is a feasible economic comparison(Figure 2). One can see that all renewables become competitive with conventional fossilfuels when their share is at approximately 20%.This applies to them all equally; cost-effective-ness is not a fundamental but rather a temporal question.

Any sole supply with renewable energies shouldbe based on several pillars due to fluctuations inthe availability of the wind and the sun. Theseinclude, for example:

• Use of energy stored in biomass• Demand side management• Appropriate integration of large pumped

storages for medium to long-term compen-sation

• New storage approaches for short-term gridsupport as they may arise, for example, withelectromobility

Prof. Schmid, Krengel et al. • Integration of renewables

111


Integration of renewable energiesinto electricity and heat supply

United Nations Development Program

Global primary energy demand

Wind

Solar

Biomass

Hydropower

Geo thermal

Ocean energy

800070006000500040003000200010000

BP

UNDP

UNDP

FAO = Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN

DLR

Harvard

EJ/a

Figure 2 Development potentialof the costs of electri-city from renewableenergies(Source: Fraunhofer IWES2007)

Figure 3 Efficiency leap in theelectricity sector bypromoting direct elec-tricity generation fromrenewable energysources and combinedheat and power (CHP)

How can we significantly increase the efficiency of ourenergy supply?

Two-thirds of the primary energy stored in theenergy source are lost as waste heat in conven-tional power plants.

For every kilowatt-hour generated directly fromrenewable energy sources, three kilowatt-hoursare replaced on the primary side of conventio-nal power plants (Figure 3). On the other hand,we have to utilise the heat losses for our ownthermal demands via a rapid and widespread

application of combined heat and powergeneratio n.

Another important component is the electricallypowered heat pump.It utilises 75 percent environmental heat fromthe air or the ground and 25 percent operatingenergy to power heating and water heating.The higher the portion of renewable electricityused, the better the heat pump’s efficiency andenvironmental balance (Figure 4).

The third major portion of primary energy isused for our mobility needs in the transport sector, with current average efficiencies of


112


Share of current electricity consumption 1% 10% 50% 100%

Electricity generation TWh/a

1 10 100 1000 10000

100

10987654

3

2

1

Electricity costs cent/kW

h

Solar thermalpower stations

Conventional

Conventional CCS

Photovoltaics CCS

Biomass

Wind energy

Efficiency 35% Efficiency 100%

FuelLosses

ElectricityRenewable electricity Electricity

CoalNatural gas

Unused waste heat

Conventionalelectricity

CHP Useful heat

Biogenic and fossil energy

Unutilized heat

Direct generationsolar wind water

Today After transformation

Transformation

Figure 4 Efficiency leap in theheating sector thanksto regenerative heatpumps and combinedheat and power (CHP)

Figure 5 Leap in the efficiencyof the transport sectorowing to electro-mobility

around 20%. Here, electromobility powered by regenerative energy is the most efficient alternative (Figure 5).

Transformation of energy systems

The transition from today’s energy system to a sustainable, zero emission system has to be conducted in a way that avoids misguided technological developments while ensuring supply during the transformation phase (no regret strategy).

As is already becoming apparent today, the increasing shares of renewable energies fromwind and the sun in the energy mix will see thecurrent load supply types – base, intermediateand peak load – disappear.

With an increasing share of fluctuating electricity sources, Europe needs a new, highlyefficient electricity transmission system that onthe one hand compensates the fluctuations resulting from local generation on a large scale(the wind will always blow somewhere inEurope) and on the other allows for the integra-tion of the enormous storage power plant capacities, especially of those in Norway.


113


Efficiency 20% Efficiency 80%


Transformation


Transformation

Renewable electricity

Fuel Useful heatEnvironmental

heat

Renewable electricity from direct generation

Useful heat

OilNatural gas

CombustionHeating

Direct combustion

Fuel

Combustion engine

Losses

Operating energy Operating energy

Electric heat pump

Usefulheat

CHP heat

Electricity

Environ-mental heat

Losses

Fuel

Renewable electricity

PetrolDiesel

Natural gas

Figure 6 Conversion of wind,sun and biomass intoSNG for storing renewables and distributing them withthe existing infrastruc-ture by coupling theelectricity and gas grid(Sources: Sterner, FraunhoferIWES and Specht, ZSW)

If the expansion of this trans-European super-grid takes too long or is incomplete, so-calledresidual-load power plants would have to compensate on a national level. In contrast topreviously employed base and intermediateload power plants, these would include the fast-reacting gas power plants with combined heatand power and virtually connectable small-scalesystems such as CHP stations, microturbines andfuel cells. Electrical energy storage as it is oftenproposed could, in principle, also provide forthis compensation but it is not competitive withstrong grids or residual-load power plants, atleast not in the foreseeable future.

Today’s large-scale power plants are not suitablefor any kind of fluctuation compensation because they do not adapt quickly enough topower fluctuations. Suitable power plant typeswould include: gas power plants and combinedheat and power plants (engine generators, microturbines, fuel cells) that can be controlledvia the appropriate communications facilities.

The expansion of natural gas-based powerplants and combined heat and power could bestarted immediately. The initially growing demand for fossil natural gas is compensated inthe medium term by the dropping demand fornatural gas heating systems (with increasingcombined heat and power and electric heatpumps).

The long-term natural gas demand will eventually drop to zero due to its substitutionwith sustainably produced biomethane and synthesised methane from electrical surpluses(Figure 6). This methane supply also implies thatthe future natural gas grid – just like the futureelectricity grid – must be able to handle varyingdirections of flow. To this end, new manage-ment strategies are required (smart grids). Thecurrent expansion rate of liquid gas terminalsshould be upheld in order to allow for an adequate capacity of, for example, methaneproduced by wind energy surpluses from particularly high-yield locations.

To offset the sharp increase in future fluctuationsin solar and wind energy production, the follow ing instruments are available:

• High-performance, high-voltage direct cur-rent transmission networks in Germany andEurope for coping with optimally locatedenergy sources from wind and sun, for thelarge-scale horizontal compensation ofpower fluctuations and for the connectionto large storage power plant capacities, forexample to those in Norway.


114


SOURCES

GRID

STORAGETRANSPORT

CONSUMPTION

Gas storage

Compensation

Gas power plants

Wind

Sun

CO2

CO2

Renewable power methane plant

H2O

Electrolysis,H2-tank

Tank

Methanation

Electricity

Heat

Transport

H2

Atmospherebiomass, waste(fossil fuels)

CH4

GAS GRID

• Responsive, decentralised power plants (preferably combined heat and power plantsor gas power plants) that are supplied vianatural gas grids from biomass and waste-gasification plants with CCS or renewablemethane produced from electricity surpluses.

• Interactive grids for electricity and gas(smart grids) in conjunction with load andfeed-in management (combined powerplants).

The environmental friendliness of electric heatpumps and electric vehicles, including trains,trams and buses, is improved with an increasingportion of renewable energies in the electricitymix.

A consistent implementation of this strategydoes not require additional storage capacitiesfor stabilising the electricity grids. However, thisis true only for a pan-European concept. Closecoordination on the one hand between all Euro-pean member states and on the other by, forexample, the European Commission is key forsuccessful implementation.


115


New strategic challenges for research and development of renewable energies

Björn KlusmannGerman RenewableEnergy Federation(BEE)Reinhardtstr. 1810117 [email protected]

Context

Renewable energy sources have increased considerably in all sectors in recent years. This isespecially true for the electricity sector: While 10 years ago, less than 5 percent of the Germanelectricity consumption came from renewableenergies, their share has tripled to more than 15 percent today. In 2008, they already genera-ted about 93 billion kilowatt-hours.

This development was primarily the result of thesuccessful and efficient German RenewableEnergy Sources Act (EEG). On the one hand, ithas enabled private investments to build rene-wable power plant capacities and on the other,it has served as a strong incentive for technolo-gical developments. Regarding renewables,there was an extremely productive relationshipbetween German innovation and research andthe young emerging industry.

To date, the heating sector lacks a similarly effective instrument like the EEG, so develop-ments in this area have moved on at a far slower pace and have been less continuous. TheRenewable Energies Heat Act, which enteredinto force at the beginning of this year, now setsout a fixed portion of renewable energies fornew buildings. However, the larger segment ofthe existing buildings is still slow to be upgra-ded to higher energy efficiencies and renewableenergies. In the heating sector, the share of renewables therefore only doubled from 3.5 to7.4 percent in the same time period. Expressedin absolute numbers, however, this is a similarorder of magnitude as seen in the electricitysector. For example, a total of about 104 billionkilowatt-hours of renewable heat was generatedin Germany in 2008.

In the transport sector, development was erratic. This is due to the lack of reliability onthe part of the political framework. Initially, theRed-Green government supported the rapid expansion of the biofuel industry and created astrong investment incentive for the sector withthe tax exemption for pure fuels. In 2006, thegrand coalition then decided to terminate thetax exemption for pure fuels and to start to gradually fully tax them instead. To compensatefor the expected capacity crunch in the indu-stry, the same government then introduced aquota system for biofuels. Nevertheless, this system change massively slowed down the dynamic development of the market. Added tothat, the overall quota was lowered to 5.25from initially 6.25 percent at the end of thegrand coalition government in 2009. The shareof biofuels in fuel consumption, which hadstarted from almost zero percent in 1998 andhad increased to 7.2 percent in 2007, fell sharply in 2008. Today, the share of biofuels isonly about 6 percent. This is equivalent to anenergy supply of around 37 billion kilowatt-hours.

Industry forecast 2020

What is going to happen with renewable energies? The industry has set itself ambitiousgoals. The BEE member companies want to significantly exceed the requirements of the EUand the federal government for 2020. In orderto succeed, we the need the right political framework conditions. This means, for one, asuccessful mix of administrative law and marketincentives for the rapid expansion of renewableenergies in all three sectors – electricity, heatand transport. By 2020, we could then cover28% of the total final energy consumption inGermany with renewable sources.

Klusmann • New strategic challenges

116


Figure 1 Projected percentageof renewables of totalfinal energy consump-tion

Figure 2 Share of renewableenergy in electricityconsumption in Germany will increaseto 47% by 2020

It also means appropriate research promotion.This is a matter of supplying the excellent capacities of the German Renewable Energy Research Association and others in Germanywith adequate resources and appropriate targets so that we can lay the foundations forfurther growth and continued technological development to 2020 and beyond.

Electricity generation forecast

We still expect a continuation of the dynamicdevelopments in the electricity sector. With sufficient efforts targeted to efficiency and witha slight decline in consumption of 620 billionkWh in 2007 to 595 billion kWh in 2020, renew ables will already cover 47 percent of theGerman electricity demand in 2020. This corre-sponds to about 280 billion kWh of generatedelectricity. Slightly more than one half of this iswind energy (149 billion kWh), followed by bio-energy (54 billion kWh), photovoltaics (40 bil-


117


Over all Power Consumption RE RE share in %

2007:14%

(88 TWh)

2007:618 TWh

2020:595 TWh

2020:47%

(278 TWh)

Terawatt-hours/year

ForecastGross electricity consumption

Electricity generation fromrenewable energies

lion kWh), regenerative hydropower (32 billionkWh) and geothermal energy (4 billion kWh).

As of yet uncertain remain the effects of the lifeextension for nuclear power plants as announ-ced by the new federal government, a decisionwe consider to be wrong. It unsettles investors,impedes competition on the electricity market,reduces pressure for innovation in the energyindustry and hinders developments in researchand, ultimately, progress in the field of renew -ables. Depending on the final formulation of thelife extension, its negative effect on the expan-sion of renewable energies will be weaker orstronger. From the industry’s point of view, thedecisive factor is that the priority for electricitysupply remains on renewables and is not under-mined in practice.

Heat generation forecast

There need to be more causes for renovation inthe heating sector as the biggest potential liesin the insufficient energetic quality of heatingsystems in Germany; only 12 percent of Germanheating systems are state of the art. We there-fore are in favour of a new instrument. It couldbe an energetic quality standard that is raised atfixed intervals and requires renovation in allbuildings that fail to meet this new standard.

In a second step, renewables should then be abinding part of these renovations. In addition tothis regulatory approach, especially financial incentives are still required to promote a fastertransition to renewables. To this end, the marketincentive programme requires at least 1 billioneuro a year and has to be independent from thefinancial situation of the federal budget. This instrument is a very effective stimulus programme. After all, one euro from publicfunds triggers private investments eight to tentimes that amount. As a result, renewablescould achieve a share of 25 percent of the heatsupply in Germany by 2020.

Biofuels forecast

In the transport sector, only biofuels are avail-able to any significant extent as to limit the useof fossil fuels and replace them. Therefore, afunding re-start of this sector is necessary. Thenew federal government has taken the firststeps towards this goal within the framework ofits Growth Acceleration Act. It contains a changein taxation which is to help rehabilitate the purefuel market for biofuels.

The increase in the overall rate, the next impor-tant step, is still pending. The proposed suspen-sion of the planned tax bracket is not sufficienteither. The tax rate for biodiesel and vegetableoil should be limited to a maximum of 10 centsper litre.


118


Biomass

Solar

Geothermal + Environmental heat

Electricity from RE

RE share of heat supply

PrognosisFigure 3 Heat generation fromrenewable energysources and share ofheat consumption

Figure 4 Development and shares of renewablesin the transport sector

If the promotion of electromobility is backed byconcrete actions – namely, in the field of batteryresearch and during market introduction – theaim of the federal government of putting onemillion electric vehicles on German roads by2020 can be achieved in the opinion of the BEE.Overall, the share of renewables in the transportsector’s energy consumption could then rise to19 percent.

A share of 100 percent renewables is only possible with R&D. But the year 2020 only represents an intermediate step in transformingour energy supply. The long-term goal must beswitching to 100 percent renewable energy.Only then can we engage in economic activitiesin an environmentally friendly way while esca-ping ever rising fossil raw material prices. Soafter 2020, we will still need a dynamic growthof renewables in all areas. Here, the great importance of research comes into play again.While we are mostly familiar with, and disposeof, the means to promote the expansion of renewables for the next ten years, we still needsignificant technological and social advances forthe years after.

The consequences restructuring our energy supply has on research and development in renewables can be roughly divided into two categories. In the broadest sense, one concerns“technical” and the other “social” issues.

Technical aspects of research

We still require major progresses in our efficiency of energy use. This applies to the entire energy sector, as well as to plant produc-tion and the plants themselves in the field of renewable energies. After all, there are also limiting factors in this area, such as the extentof usable land. Regarding plant manufacture,material and energy use have an impact on theremaining balance of CO2 emissions from renewables.

The main technological challenge, and thus themost important research task, can be describedwith the term “system integration of renewableenergies”. This mainly pertains to the electricitysector, but not only. The higher the share of renewable energies in our electricity system, thelower the remaining fossil capacities.

With this, however, there are less capacities initially remaining to compensate fluctuations insolar and wind energy. New and more powerfulstorage media, technologies and structures arecalled for. We also need intelligent control systems that on the one hand help balancepower generation and demand, and on theother efficiently coordinate several decentralisedpower plants.


119


Share of RE

Electricity from RE(rail and vehicles)

Bio Fuels (overall)

Prognosis

This concerns not only electricity but also theheat sector in which major advances are neededto optimally connect generation, storage andsupply to an ever-increasing share of renew-ables. Here, the major focus is primarily on heatstorage, local heating networks and modern efficiency technologies in private and industrialuse.

Combining electricity, heat and mobility is be-coming ever more important because the utili-sation of renewable technologies is increasinglycross-sectoral in nature. Prototypes such as thehybrid plant in Prenzlau (Brandenburg) thatcombines electricity, heat and fuel production,point in the right direction. The important thingin the relatively young field of renewable ener-gies is research that is diverse and open to newtechnologies because setting course too earlytowards a certain goal would hinder promisingdevelopments in other sectors. The best techno-logies and concepts can only be proven in practice. In addition, different technologies alsohave different time horizons in which they mature and become fully effective.

In the field of electricity supply, smart grids andsmart metering will play an important role inthe future. There are a number of problems thatresearch has yet to solve to allow for their extensive and successful application. In the future, the electricity infrastructure must there-fore allow for both an increased decentralisationof power generation and improved networkingover longer distances in order to make powerplants feasible for regional supply on the onehand, and on the other to redirect largeamounts of power from, for example, offshorewind farms to more remote consumption centres.

A key strategic issue for the energy supply ofthe future are the regenerative combined powerplants. They link various regenerative produc-tion units and combine the specific strengths ofthe individual applications. In order to ensurethat the operators of, for example, wind turbines and biogas plants cooperate on a largescale in the future, an appropriate stimulus forregenerative combined power plants has to beintegrated into the EEG as soon as possible. In

the past, valuable impetus for such an instru-ment also came from the Renewable Energy Research Association. The increasing prolifera-tion of regenerative combined power plants willthen have to be accompanied by research thatis in step with actual practice. The therein employed IT components have to be optimisedand the communication between plant and gridoperators has to be improved.

Sociological and economicaspects of research

Now to the socio-political aspects. In this case,too, will the restructuring of our energy supplyentail a considerable demand for research. First,there are the business sciences: Existing value-added models have to be advanced and refinedfor the area of energy generation and supplywith regard to renewable energy sources. This isthe only way to establish precise distinctionswithin the production chains and to provide reliable information on business costs and theeconomic effects of renewables. In this context,new models for technology assessment and evaluation of specific funding instruments arerequired.

An important research field – also beyond theinterests of the renewable energy sources industry – is the question of monetising externaleffects of energy supply.

Only someone who knows how high the costsof coal and nuclear power are for climate, environment, health and for the availability ofresources can properly value the benefits andadvantages of expanding renewable energies.Scientific assessment and mathematical modelsare prerequisites for politicians if they are to develop and apply effective management instruments, thereby promoting the transforma-tion of our industrial society into a sustainableeconomy.

In social sciences, the expansion of renewableenergies opens up new fields in acceptance research. Phenomena such as the contradiction„Renewables yes – but please not on my lawn“


120


call for scientific investigation. Using the results,appropriate communication and action strate-gies can be derived, allowing for an expansionof renewables that is in line with the involvedlocals. Here, it could be possible to develop newpublic participation models and evaluate the effects of various methods and communicationstrategies.

Renewable energies depend on an effectivelegal framework while its formulation is signifi-cantly influenced by jurisprudence. This raisesthe question of how to proceed adjusting legalinstruments to promote renewable energies andilluminating hidden obstacles in existing statutory provisions hindering their further advancement. As science, in the field of energylaw, has been previously dominated by the perspective of traditional energy productionfrom fossil and nuclear sources, it is now requi-red to increasingly incorporate renewables’point of view into this area and to close the strategic gap by establishing think-tanks promoting the advancement of renewables.

Conclusion

Overall, renewables have grown steadily sincetheir introduction and have long left their niche.With continued growth, they will become an increasingly dominant factor in our energy supply – with significant consequences for thewhole power generation infrastructure, thegrids, and ultimately the consumers.

Research has a central role in ensuring a smoothtransition towards a new, safe and sustainableenergy supply with the goal of 100 percent renewable energy.

German research and development has a topposition in the field of renewable energies. Sofar, the excellent results have been quickly implemented and efficiently applied to techno-logy. A globally leading industrial sector with ahigh export potential has formed in Germanythat is also able to contribute successfully to joband value creation. Despite the previous achievements, research and development in thissector continues to be necessary at a high level

in order to increase the considerable potentialfor innovation and to enable the rapid andcomplete transformation of our energy supply.

This requires constant impetus from an activeresearch community which rapidly transfers innovative technological developments to themainly medium-sized companies of the industry. The required research capacity has tocorrespond to the growth of the markets andhas to be guaranteed by an increasing flow ofresearch funds. Research and development of arenewable energy mix must therefore be givenpriority in energy research.

FVEE and BEE recommend raising funds for research and development of renewable energies and energy efficiency by 20 percentannually, as done so in the last three years, inorder to achieve at least a doubling in the medium term. This is the only way Germanycan keep up with global market dynamics andmeet requirements of the EU as well as its ownenergy policy objectives for 2020 and beyond.This is the only way the German industry canmaintain its leading position in the face of therapidly increasing international competition.


121


Research for global markets – Strategic approaches of the BMU

Strategic approaches of theBMU

Energy research is part of our energy and cli-mate policy. The key objectives of energy re-search in the BMU are:

1. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions

• Increasing energy efficiency• Expanding renewable energies – redu-

cing costs• Improving quality and efficiency (e.g. ef-

ficiency rates) – System integration (e.g. storage, smart

grids) – Opening up new fields of application

(e.g. process heat in the solar thermalfield) – Environmental and ecologicalcompatibility, acceptance

2. Creating options for the future

• Institutional support of the BMBF• BMBF research programme “Basic Energy

Research 2020+“• BMU projects for preliminary research,

e.g. at the Fraunhofer ISE, ISFH and ZSW(PV) and the DLR (Concentrated SolarPower – CSP)

3. Jobs in Germany

• Promotion of technologies lacking poten-tial applications in Germany (e.g. CSP,and to a lesser extent ocean energy)

All of this ultimately serves competitiveness onthe world markets!

Who is funding what?

Institutional funding (basic research)

• BMBF and BMWi:HZB, FZ Jülich, Fraunhofer Institute

• Federal states: HGF, Fraunhofer, ISFH, ZSW,ZAE, universities

Project funding: basic and applied research

• BMBF:– Basic research – Applied research in

multidisciplinary programmes• BMU (renewable energies), BMELV (biomass

only):– Applied research – As well as prelimi-

nary research• Federal states:

RE research funding overview

• Project funding of the BMU and the BMELV• Institutional support of the BMBF and the

BMWi• BMBF: “Basic Energy Research 2020+”• Multidisciplinary programmes of the BMBF:

PV cluster of excellence, PVcomB in Berlin• Project funding of the BMWi (shallow ge-

othermal energy, integration/grids/storage)• Federal states (The Fraunhofer Centre for Si-

licon Photovoltaics in Halle, CompetenceCentre Thin-Film- and Nanotechnology forPhotovoltaics Berlin)

• German Environment Foundation

Nick-Leptin • Strategic approaches of the BMU

122


Joachim Nick-Leptin Head of Office of theGerman Federal Ministryfor the Environment,Nature Conservationand Nuclear Safety(BMU)[email protected]

Figure 1 RE research funding bythe various ministriesin 2008

Figure 2 Energy research (actual) by Germangovernment

Figure 3 International RE research


123


entirely: ~160 Mio. Euro

BMBF/BMWi(HGF/FhG)

BMBF

BMELV BMU

removal of nuclear power plants

fusion

nuclear

fossil energy

RE + efficiency

2.500

2.000

1.500

1.000

500

0

Mio

. Eur

o

1974

1.600

1.400

1.200

1.000

800

600

400

200

01975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 Soll

United States

United KingdomSpainKorea

JapanItalyGermanyFranceCanada

Export successes of renewables

• PV export quota: 48%• Wind energy export quota: 82 %

Germany plays a technologically leading role inalmost all renewable energies worldwide.

Research expenditure for PV in2008

Private research expenditure

• R&D expenditure of companies for RE increased by 80% in 2008 (source: EU Commission)

• 5 of the 6 “top-spending green energyfirms” were from Germany (source: EUCommission)

• Companies have their own research centresor research organisations (e.g. q-Cells, SolarWorld, Würth Solar, Enercon)


124


Figure 4 PV research expenditure in 2008

Figure 5 Private research expenditure

180160140120100806040200

163

privat

77

öffentlich

Mio

. Eur

o

R&D expenditure of PV companies in Mio €:Growth by Innovation

The German RenewableEnergy Sources Act (EEG) as aninnovation driver

• Private R&D expenditure is ultimately basedon the EEG, thus being “induced by the government”.

• The degression of the feed-in tariff providesincentives for innovation.

• The technology bonus provides for additional incentives for innovation in someselected areas.

• The market incentive programme (MAP)also provides incentives for innovation.

Research funding of the BMUin the area of renewables

Figure 6 BMU budget estimatesfor R&D in the area ofRE

Figure 7 Newly approved projects of the BMU in2009 (118.44 millioneuros)

Figure 8 New grants of theBMU from 2004 to2009


125


120

100

80

60

40

20

02002

6068

53

86 8388

103110

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Mio

. Eur

o

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Mio

. Eur

o

other

Integration

CSP (Concentrated Solar Power)

low-temperature solar thermal

Geo thermal

Wind

PV

PV26,6%

Wind23,8%

Geo thermal12,6%

other14,2%

Optimisation ofenergy supply/System integration9,7%

Solar thermalpower plants7,3%

low-temperaturesolar thermal5,9%

Figure 9 Development of applications in photo-voltaics: increasingnumber lowers approval rate

Figure 10 Beneficiaries of the PVbudget 2006-2009

Conclusions

• Public RE research funding is well-positionedin Germany.

• EEG and MAP are the innovation drivers• Excellent research landscape: HGF, FhG and

other institutes, universities and private research centres

• Germany is the technological leader in almost all RE.

• But: there are new developments in othercountries, notably the USA and China.

Further information

• Annual Report 2008: [email protected]

• Newsletter of the BMU• Homepage: “Research” at www.erneuer-

bare-energien.de• Research year-book and CD with a brief

description of all funded projects (availablefrom PTJ and BINE)


126


proposals

approvals

60% 52%48% 26%

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

Mio

. Eur

o

2006 2007 2008 2009

Industry38%

other12%

FVEE50%

The area of conflict between technology transfer and intellectualproperty protection

1. Introduction

Against the backdrop of a changing climate, thetransfer of clean technologies to emerging anddeveloping countries is urgently called for. At the same time, there is also the legitimate interest of protecting the intellectual propertyfor these technologies. To answer the questionwhether this area of conflict affects the mitiga-tion of or the adaptation to climate change, theframework of technology transfer and the herein existing obstacles shall be explained.

2. Transfer of clean technologies essential for climate protection

Mainly due to the demands of developing coun-tries, global energy consumption is set to rise;these countries will be responsible for two thirdsto three quarters of the total increase in energy-related emissions. In 2004, developing countriescaused 40% of all emissions from fossil fuels butwill probably replace the OECD countries as themain emitters by the beginning of the next decade.

In this scenario, China will soon replace the USAas the No. 1 emitter (Figure 1).

Consequently, it is not enough that individualcountries or groups of countries implement climate protection programmes. Only if allcountries participate, will we be able to stop climate change.

The extent of the required economic transfor-mation can be equated to that of the industrialrevolution, except that it has to be three timesas fast and encompass the whole world. Not

only industrial greenhouse gas emissions mustbe reduced quickly and dramatically but alsothe outdated and therefore greenhouse gas intensive technologies used for everyday purposes, which are an important factor in respect to climate change due to their highnumbers [1].

The UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol and the BaliAction Plan encourage developed countries totake all possible measures to facilitate the trans-fer of clean technologies. Different views andpositions have crystallised and those pointing tointellectual property rights are hindering thetransfer of clean technologies.

Dr. Hoffmann, Lewerenz et al. • Technology transfer and intellectual property protection FVEE • AEE Topics 2009

China overhauls the U.S. as the world’s biggest emitter already before 2010. Even thoughchina’s per capita emission will reach only 60% of the average per capita emission ofOECD countries in 2030.

Rest (not OECD)

China

USA

1990 2000 2010 2020 2030

Gig

aton

s C

O2

15

12

9

6

3

0

127

Dr. Winfried HoffmannEPIA President and ChiefTechnology Officer of Applied Materials GmbH& Co. [email protected]

Jana LewerenzSecretariat for Future Studies Marienstr. 19/2010117 [email protected]

Thomas PellkoferApplied Materials GmbH& Co. [email protected]

Figure 1 Reference scenario:energy-related CO2

emissions by regionSource: OECD/IEA WorldEnergy Outlook 2006

3. The relationship betweentechnology transfer and in-tellectual property

Intellectual property rights are basically under-stood as a privilege granted to the inventor anddeveloper as a compensation for research anddevelopment expenditure. It is supposed to bean incentive for further innovations. Intellectualproperty rights include an exclusive right of ex-ploitation for a limited period, by virtue ofwhich the holder can set a higher price than hecould in a competitive situation. This right wasadded to the General Agreement on Tariffs andTrade (GATT), a pillar of the World Trade Orga-nisation, within the framework of the Trade Re-lated Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in1994. The agreement strengthens intellectualproperty rights, its implementation is manda-tory and it includes an enforcement mechanism.

Against the backdrop of climate change, tech-nology transfer refers to the requirement of in-troducing clean technologies to mitigate and/oror adapt to climate change in regions wheresuch technology is not yet generally available[2] (Figure 2). Successfully transferring tech-nology includes learning, understanding, usingand copying technology with the ability tochoose the technology, adapt it to regional con-

ditions and combine it with indigenous techno-logies [3]. These factors form the so-called tech-nological “hardware and software”, wherehardware mainly includes devices and softwareconsists of training, education and manage-ment.

Intellectual property rights shape technologytransfer: There are two kinds of paths alongwhich such technologies can be transferred: ho-rizontally and vertically.

• Vertical technology transfer implies reloca-tion or sale of a technology without sharingthe underlying intellectual property rights,usually by selling finished products to endusers or by transferring all production rightsto an investor [2].

• Horizontal technology transfer, on theother hand, implies the exchange of intellec-tual property, mostly in the context of jointventures or between a foreign direct investorand a native company located in the targetcountries [2].

Dr. Hoffmann, Lewerenz et al. • Technology transfer and intellectual property protection

128


Intellectual propertyExclusive right of exploitation for a certain period as a compensationfor research and development expenses

Technology transferTechnology transfer involves learning, understanding, using andcopying a technology with the ability to choose the technologyand adapt it to local conditions butto also combine it with indigenoustechnologies.

Paths differ greatly from sector to sector,technology, maturity

and national circumstances

Requirements analysis Technology choice

Evaluation and adaptation to local conditions

Reproducibility

Consideration of the

transfer conditions, agreement andimplementation

Figure 2 Relationship betweentechnology transferand intellectual property

Figure 3 Causes for the stagnation of thetransfer process

4. Causes for stagnation of thetransfer process

Certainly, a manufacturer and developer ofclean technologies does not „lose“ know-how ifhe makes it available to emerging and develo-ping nations at no costs, however third partiesmay now benefit without consideration of costsand efforts of developing said new technolo-gies; undercutting and the resulting market displacement imperil the company’s economicsurvival. Intellectual property rights are basedon these considerations and they serve to protect from exactly these losses, but at theprice of complicating technology transfer [1].

In order to ensure that intellectual propertyrights do not hinder the transfer of clean tech-nologies, an extensive transformation, or evenre-establishment, of administrative and legal institutions is necessary (Figure 3). Most develo-ping countries, however, lack the requiredmeans. On top of that, the necessary skills andexpertise need to be acquired. So instead of directly using their resources to reduce povertyand stop climate change, developing countrieswould first have to establish an extensive bure-aucratic and legal apparatus for the protectionof intellectual property rights of developedcountries, and even that would not guarantee a

quick and widespread implementation of cleantechnologies. Of course these countries will bereluctant to adjust a part of their public institu -tions to cater to the specific interests of foreigncompanies. They would then be in a situation inwhich they would be allowed to use technolo-gies they cannot use due to lack of resourcesand know-how [1]. Intellectual property rightsplay a role in technology transfer but only regarding emerging and developing countries’access to advanced technologies, not to com-mon technologies [4]. So the question is: Whois responsible for capacity building? And so oneside pushes this responsibility to the other.

5. The area of conflict

The problem with so many industrialising countries is that they cannot jeopardise theireconomic growth aiming towards a higher quality of life for the population and that theyhave to avoid an energy-intensive, unsustain-able and environmentally harmful industrialisa-tion process at the same time.

Vertical technology transfer unfortunately igno-res this dilemma. It may be entirely possible tospread the technology for solar cells, for exam-ple, by selling them in developing countries


129


Largest net emitters

The largest future net emitters

Poverty reduction

Market availability

Lack of resources,know-how

Costs and effort of technological development

Development aid

Low transaction costsVertical technology

transfer

Responsibility

Economic growth and development

Trade

Industrialised countries

emerging and developing countries

Figure 4 The area of conflict

( Figure 4). From an environmental perspective,this might even be satisfactory but the interestsof developing countries in capacity building andapplication expertise, for example, would beundermined [5].

To date, almost all organisations mainly follow aproject-oriented approach, which lacks a strate-gic dimension with regard to the integration ofrenewable energies into the energy supply systems. Coordination is informal, meaning thatthere are no evaluation reports for assessments,lessons learned and experience gained from theprojects. Another risk of lacking networking liesin the fact that projects are carried out indepen-dently or in competition with one another, andin occurring redundancies [6].

In short: The problem is characterised by heatedand biased questions of responsibilities and operating primarily without a solid empiricalfoundation.

6. A step-by-step approachbased on economic criteria

Technology transfer usually starts with local development projects. This is mostly about improving the living conditions of the locals andbuilding their confidence in the new techno-logy. Even if this can be accomplished, the following steps will have to be taken to ensure asuccessful technology transfer (Figure 5):

A) Pilot project

In addition to the objectives of a project, thepotential of a further technology transfer shouldbe analysed, too. Here, one quickly comesacross criteria of economic efficiency, in addi-tion to political and/or environmental aspects,which should be evaluated in a structured analysis. When selecting the pilot projects, thesubsequent spreading to the larger regionought to be an important selection criterion.

B) Service and maintenance

Securing an active and operating system includes two aspects:

• Storing spare parts on site, in order to startrepairs quickly and avoid lengthy and costlyordering processes.


130


climate change

DevelopmentPolitics

Trade

central coordination?

„development dividend“

Projects

companies

Figure 5 Technology transfer infour steps with an in-creasing scope oftransferred intellectualproperty (IP)

Experience from previous projects hasshown that complete system failures wereoften caused by apparently small problems.For example, the lack of a suitable fuse costing just a few cents resulted in failureand even ruined the whole system in a shorttime.

• Equally important is a more thorough under-standing of the products in order to main-tain an adequate quality level of service andoperation.

C) Installation of products

This requires furthering one’s understanding ofexisting technologies and products significantly.At the same time, entrepreneurial structureshave to be established, including project management, logistics, quality managementand after-sales service.

D) Production

This will usually only be useful if the market volume of the specific region is large enough foran adequate sales volume.

It is also necessary to build a working networkwith suppliers, customers and universities to develop own processes and patents and thuslimit licensing costs. It is suggested that fromsteps A to D, the plant sizes increase from thesub-kW into the MW-range and thus the extentof the intellectual property (IP) to be transfer-red. By step C or D the latest, companies willusually only agree to a transfer if the economicexploitation of IP rights is clearly regulated.

Technology transfer to emerging and develo-ping countries should not only be a matter ofeconomic criteria but also of environmental anddevelopmental goals. Only with the role of a„central coordinating body“ that controls thisarea of conflict, that considers IP an economicgood and does not lose sight of the steps A to Dwill it be possible to ensure transfer of techno-logy to these regions to the necessary extentand with long-term success.


131


Literature

[1] European Economic Forum for SustainableDevelopment (2009): Klimagerechtigkeitals Anliegen der deutschen Wirtschaft: EineEinführung in politische Hintergründe undProbleme des Technologietransfer. Euro-pean Business Council for SustainableEnergy (e5): Karben.

[2] Forsyth, Tim (2005): Enhancing climatetechnology transfer through greater public-private cooperation: Lessons fromThailand and the Philippines. In: NaturalResources Forum 2005, Vol. 29, Iss. 2, S. 165-176.

[3] IPCC Special Report “Methodological andTechnological Issues in Technology Trans-fer”, IPCC 2000

[4] Barton, John H. (2007) Intellectual Propertyand Access to Clean Energy Technologiesin Developing Countries: An Analysis ofSolar Photovoltaic, Biofuels and Wind Technologies. ICTSD Trade and SustainableEnergy Series Issue Paper No. 2 Internatio-nal Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development, Geneva, Switzerland

[5] Ockwell et al. (2008) Intellectual propertyrights and low carbon technology transfer:conflicting discourses of diffusion and de-velopment. University of Sussex. In Review.

[6] Pfahl, Stefanie et al. (2005): Die internatio-nalen institutionellen Rahmenbedingungenzur Förderung erneuerbarer Energien.Bu ndesministerium für Umwelt, Natur-schutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Berlin.

See also:Forsyth, Tim (2007): Promoting the “Development Dividend” of Climate Technology Transfer: Can cross-sector Partnerships Help? In: World DevelopmentVol. 35, No. 10, S. 1684–1698.


132


Innovation structures in Germany for technological leadership – Solar Valley Central Germany

Dr. Hubert A. AulichCluster spokesman forSolar Valley Central Germany, Member ofthe Board of PV Crystalox Solar [email protected]

Dr. Peter FreyManaging Director Solar Valley [email protected]

Summary

The federal states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringiaand Saxony have developed into a region withthe highest photovoltaic industry density inEurope. In the regional cluster “Solar ValleyCentral Germany”, a comprehensive innovationconcept was launched, made possible by a co-operation between the industry, research, edu-cation and politics, allowing for theimplementation of the latest solar technologiesin the industry and which aims to create addi-tional jobs in the region, beyond today’s 11,000up to 40,000 by 2020. This concept allows solarpower to reach competitiveness with electricityfrom conventional fuels.

1. Introduction

In the cluster “Solar Valley Central Germany”,winner of the Cluster of Excellence innovationcompetition held by the German Federal Mini-stry of Research in 2008, this international lead-ership is further expanded upon with an allianceof industry, silicon photovoltaics research andeducational institutions. With appropriate co-operation and topical coordination, solar poweris to reach competitiveness with electricity fromconventional fuels. With the planned invest-ments by industry partners and with public fun-ding, “grid parity” can be achieved within a fewyears. This would mean that solar power wouldcost less than “electricity from the socket”. Thisis the crucial milestone.

2. The world’s leading photo-voltaic region

The region – consisting of the three federalstates of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia –has Europe’s highest density of photovoltaicscompanies (Figure 1). In 2009, 11,000 workerswere already employed in this area. The indu-stry-specific growth rate in recent years wasover 35 percent; a similar average growth rate isexpected for the coming years.

The leading manufacturers in the region – re-presenting 43% of the German PV industry tur-nover – are the motor of the innovation concept“Solar Valley Central Germany”.

3. The innovation strategy in the “Solar Valley CentralGermany”

Currently, 29 global companies, 9 research insti-tutes and 4 universities are cooperating to pur-sue three interrelated goals in a jointly adoptedstrategy:

• Technology development• Education and• Cluster management

The strategy is being implemented in 98 indivi-dual projects with a total budget of €150 mil-lion over a period of five years. The publicsector – the Federal Ministry of Research andthe state ministries – are funding 50% of the ex-penditure. The cluster is managed by the indu-stry, which is responsible for work themes,partner selection and financing the equity ratio.

Dr. Aulich, Dr. Frey • Solar Valley Central Germany

133


Figure 1 The federal states ofThuringia, Saxony andSaxony-Anhalt – theworld’s leading solarregion

This tightly coupled approach to developmentis effectively supported by the regional networkof stakeholders. Technological development isforced within the framework of a long-term in-novation strategy incorporating all steps of thevalue chain in order to promote solar power system efficiency, product reliability, service lifeand reduction of production costs. All innova -tions share the ultimate goal of reducing thecosts per kilowatt-hour of energy. The develop-ment concept extends from basic research toapplications in innovative production techno-logies.

Of particular importance to achieving the ambitious goals is the adaptability of the respec-tive development results to the interface of thefollowing value-added step.

The cost targets for these innovation goals arebased on past experiences: When the installedPV capacity doubled, the price dropped by20%. The Solar Valley concept will ensure thatthis price-learning curve (Figure 2) will be carried forward into the future – while main-taining margins for the manufacturers. It willthus make a major contribution towards achieving the grid parity milestone.


134


The PV sector in Germany created a 19 billion Euro turnover in 2009 (source: EuPD research 08/2009).

Jobs in PV Production

“Solar Valley Central Germany“

Figure 2 Solar power on its wayto becoming a compe-titive energy source:Thin-film modules (redcurve) already reach aprice of 1 $/W at lessthan 20 GW of installed capacity, silicon modules (greencurve) at 100 GW.Source: NREL

With the prevailing solar irradiation in this region, this will already be achieved well beforethe year 2015.

The field of education includes the specific measures to meet the needs of this rapidly growing industry with regard to professionalsand managers on all levels of qualification. Anintegrated education system for all steps of thevalue-added chain and for comprehensive strategic tasks is to be established in a coordina-ted effort of the federal states.

Cluster management supports the professionali-sation and expansion of the network as well asthe coordination along the value-added chain ofthe regional PV industry.

Of particular importance are measures for in-creasing the attractiveness of the region for national and international investors, supportingthe foundation of spin-offs and the coordinationof joint appearances for international industryrepresentatives, expert panels and political authorities. For the operational implementation,a management platform with regional offices

has been established in the three participatingfederal states, cooperating as an umbrella organisation with the industry representativeson site.

4. Technologies and productsfor grid parity

The research and development programme forgrid parity is being realised in a system of 12 joint projects that are coordinated in termsof content and schedules.

In the key activity area of the crystalline silicon(c-Si) technology line, the objective is to pro-duce a maximum of electricity with a minimumof silicon. This means decreasing the thicknessof silicon wafers from today’s 180 micrometresto about 100 micrometres and increasing theefficiency rates of solar cells and solar modules.To reach the ultimate goal of reducing the costper generated kWh of energy, we need new solutions both at the level of the product and ofthe manufacturing technology.


135


1 $/W@ < 20 GW1 $/W@ > 100 GW

Solar Learning Curve: Module Costs / Watt

Rate of Degression: 20%

In addition, product reliability and a service lifeof over 30 years have to be guaranteed to theend user.

The milestones on the way to grid parity areagreed upon, what now counts for the year2011 is:

• More than 30% material savings• Increasing efficiency to 20% module

efficiency for c-Si and 10% for thin-film solarmodules

• Increasing reliability and service life of themodule to over 30 years

5. Education and research for afuture technology

The high-tech photovoltaics industry has an extraordinary demand for highly qualified specialists and managers. In addition to the purely quantitative number of required staff forthe rapidly growing industry, the challenge liesin meeting the quality demands of an industrythat wants to remain competitive especially inthe international high-end segment.

The achievement of cost targets is closely linkedto the growth scenarios of the industry. By theyear 2020, 40,000 jobs have to be filled, corresponding to 50% of all jobs in the PV indu-stry and its suppliers in Germany.

An integral, cross-state education system is tomeet this demand. As an immediate measure,four new bachelor and master degree program-mes were launched, six endowed chairs wereestablished and a competence centre for vocational education and training was built.

For the 2011 milestone, the following targetsare to be realised:

• Qualification of 5,000 skilled workers in theregion

• Recruitment of 2,000 professionals from theregion

• Academic education network with 400 bachelor/master degrees per year

• Expansion of PhD positions for 40 gradua -tions per year

6. High-tech region highly attractive to economy andsociety

With the innovation concept of the Solar ValleyCentral Germany, structures for technologicalleadership in international competition are created. This results in new opportunities:

• Environmental policy – CO2 reduction withsolar power

• Economic policy – solar power as a driver forclean energy

• Regional policy – Central Germany is develo-ping into a leading high-tech region highlyattractive to investors

• Corporate policy – accelerating the innova-tion process to consolidate the technologicallead

An interdisciplinary cooperation of manufactu-rers and users, planners and architects allows forinnovative solar power system solutions thatmeet technological and economical demands aswell as those of architectural designing, land-scaping and urban landscaping. These modelsolutions can affect the manufacturer’s productrange and secure unique selling points in thebooming buyers’ market. An example is thenewly established international conferenceseries Bau hausSolar in Erfurt. Bauhaus tradition– with its roots in Weimar and Dessau – and theregional industry see the development of newsystem solutions and the future paths for an“energy culture”.

In the “Solar Valley Central Germany” cluster,the stage is being set for a change in the energystrategy – in addition to excellence of productand technology suppliers, the announced40,000 jobs and the qualitative development ofthe region all being on the agenda.


136


Are Germany’s economy and research in renewable energies fit forinternational competition?Panel discussion with representatives from research, politics and business

Panel moderator: Klaus Oberzig scienzz communicationWeb platform for theworld of science [email protected]

Dr. Hubert AulichPV Sillicon Forschungs-und [email protected]

Shorter innovation cycles require more research and development

Aulich: In photovoltaics, prices have fallen dramatically, the competition is very strong. TheSpanish market declined strongly in 2008, leading to a build-up of high excess capacitiesand manufacturers were pressured into dispo-sing their products. In addition, the productiontechnologies for renewables, developed mainlyby German plant constructors, spread rapidlyand become internationalised. This means thatthe cycle from the good idea in a research institute leading to production is not 7-8 yearslike it used to be, but only two years now. Theonly chance we have is to increase the pace ofinnovation and thus increase R&D expenditureeven further. Otherwise, Germany will lose itsleading position. It also requires greater willing-ness on behalf of the industry to implementnew ideas to reduce costs. This is a prerequisiteto keeping the jobs in Germany.

Competition from Asia puts pressure on industry and research

Stadermann (FVEE): My question is somewhatprovocative: Research funds have increasedslightly and the industry itself is also engaged inresearch. Why are Chinese solar cells as good asours? Why have we lost the lead?

Aulich: Germany has been working on the sub-ject for a long time and did all the preliminarywork. Other countries, such as China, did not.But if you want to build a solar manufacturingfacility in Asia today, because it is a future tech-nology that generates profit and jobs, then youwill be able to find a general contractor whowill build the facility using the latest technolo-gies, guarantee efficiency rates and even showyou how it is done. That was not the case 7 or 8 years ago. If you go to China or Malaysia, youwill see German plants that have been built byGerman plant constructors. These German plantconstructors have strong links to the German research landscape. This landscape continues tosupply good ideas for further developments.This should indeed be the case but the rate ofknow-how transfer has increased enormously. Ifyou want to maintain the lead as a solar cell orwafer manufacturer, you already need to havethe next technology in store in additition to theone used for constructing the plant. And youshould also try to ensure that not all of theknow-how remains with the plant constructor;a part of it should be kept to yourself so it is notas easy to resell the technology. But we shouldnot fool ourselves. China is putting a tremen-dous effort into making its own developmentswith many engineers and scientists. It is not likethey only plagiarise and nothing else is happe-ning. In this respect, there is enormous pressurenot only on the German industry but also onGerman research.

Panel discussion

137


Hoffmann: I would like to mention another factor regarding the competitiveness of Germancompanies: A few months ago, the LandesbankBaden Württemberg (LBBW) published a studydemonstrating that there is a 40 percent costdisadvantage for German manufacturers. To myknowledge, there is an investment assistance inChina for production facilities of 20, 30 or 40percent – it depends on the region – until theend of the first quarter. The Chinese manufactu-rer is provided the rest of the money by the Chinese state bank at a low percentage for 15 years. Added to this is the 10-year tax holi-day. And when you add the dollar/euro currency factor to this, it is the “last nail in thecoffin”. For these reasons, there are heavy in-vestments in new production facilities in Chinadespite excess capacities. When German or European companies go to their banks, how-ever, there will be long debates whether theyget the money at all and on which terms. Inother countries, people openly talk about theimportance of domestic value creation whenpublic market development programmes arebeing discussed. I am not suggesting to erecttrade barriers to keep out foreign products butwe have to react to these international challen-ges with our framework to be able to maintainGermany and Europe as a centre of technolo-gical innovation. So far, I have found no answeras to what exactly this is to look like. We needto consult with colleagues from all ministriesand the EU and find out which measures aresuitable for preparing us for the future.

International comparison ofeconomic promotion

Kaiser: Yes, the Chinese are subsidising their PVproduction. But so did we: European structuresprovide grants to countries, there is support formunicipalities, the KFW and funds from federalprogrammes. Germany, too, used its instru-ments to promote the domestic PV industry.Now it is a bit more difficult but neverthelessthere are still investments in that area. Mr Asbeckis currently expanding his production. And thatwe now have competition in the market, thatmodule suppliers are having difficulties with thenew prices, is normal – it is, after all, a free

market economy. We have allowed profit margins of 30-40 percent in the production ofPV modules. With this continuing for severalyears, it does not come as a surprise that wenow have a bandwagon effect in this area thatis building up excess capacities. The answer canonly be: when the Chinese are coming, youhave simply got to be better! First, you need innovation to stay ahead in production and coststructures. Secondly, you have got to be betterin customer care. Advertise the fact that youmanufacture in Germany and treat your customers well. I would like to give an exampleof what I mean with customer care. The maga-zine Photon asked a few people to get offers fora photovoltaic roof system with 6 KW. After onemonth and 30 inquiries, there were 5 more orless serious offers. This is the situation on themarket. You really need to take better care ofyour customers before you step up to politicsand demand protection or import restrictions!

European research policy

Hoffmann: I am not at all satisfied with the recent research policy on the European level. Mr Nick-Leptin from the BMU had shown in hispresentation that more than 50% of the energysector research expenditure in Germany is fornuclear energy and significantly less than 50 percent for the renewable sector.

Matters regarding distribution are even worse inthe seventh EU Research Framework Programme– the eighth is currently underway. This inade-quacy in resource allocation should be mademore public! We should point out clearly thatrenewables have already proven what they arecapable of – in contrast to the promises weheard in the last 50 years, for example from nuclear fusion. We already know it will be cheaper to generate electricity with renewablesin 10 years than any of those systems will everbe able to – if at all. The title to decommissionnuclear facilities is a necessity, which is badenough. But as of now, we are not investingenough in technologies that are supposed tosupply us in the future. I therefore have toadmit that I am highly dissatisfied with the priorities set by our research policy.

Panel discussion

138

Dr. Winfried HoffmannPresident of EPIA andCTO Applied Materials [email protected]

Reinhard KaiserGerman Federal Ministryfor the Environment Head of the “RenewableEnergies” subdivisionAs of 1/2/2010: Head of the „Ecological resource efficiency, soil protection“ subdivision


Aulich: When the EU reveal their research anddevelopment funding, you can see that thosefunds are often spent at the national level butpresented as part of the EU budget. I wouldconsider it reasonable for the EU to draw uptheir own budget, handle topics themselves andfocus more on renewables than they did in thepast. As of now, the R&D budget for hardware,system development and grids is dominated byinterests that are not consistent with promotingrenewables. From the perspective of the manu-facturing industry, the main demand on the national and European level especially is thatthe funds are not only extended, but grantedsooner and more specifically.

Kaiser: Of course we welcome the fact that theEU are supporting research efforts. It is also allvery fine when they introduce their own pro-grammes. However, they should be oriented towards the politically set priorities. These in-clude climate protection, energy efficiency and,above all, renewables. 20 percent renewablesby 2020 is the mandatory target set by the EU.A meaningful way to back this is with increasedresearch efforts.

More funding for research intorenewables required

Weber: I would like to defend the way Germanypromotes research in the area of photovoltaics.I believe that we are as strong as we are becausewe use our relatively small budget to supportprojects in a very sensible manner. For examplein comparison to the NREL in the U.S., a hugeinstitution with a strong institutional fundingwhich is used to little effect in the industry in relation to their resources. In my opinion, thePV industry is well-suited to project-orientedfunding in which you propose innovative pro-jects which then should, of course, have at leasta 50 percent chance to succeed. Regardless ofthe allocation procedure, we definitely need thedoubling of funds as proposed by the FVEE.

Kaiser: In Germany, research funding is ade-quate and purposeful. Our next evaluation ofour research programme will be in 2011. Youare welcome to forward us your suggestions.

This is also about more money of course. For example, the approval rate for PV has decreasedsubstantially. That is not because the applicationshave gotten worse but because there is simplymore work to be done in this area. A market hasdeveloped there and the pace of innovation hasincreased. Therefore, there is actually moreroom for applications. Instead, however, the research budget for PV was frozen. Albeit at ahigh level – which was politically highly contro-versial, so the BMU was proud of being able tomaintain this level – but frozen nonetheless. Wehad to grant other areas an increase in researchfunds. Result: declining approval rate for PV – avery bad situation for German research, verybad for the prices in this area.

Hoffmann: The extension of funds is an impor-tant issue. In order to maintain the industry inGermany, it is absolutely necessary to make evenmore use of existing collaborations between research institutes and the industry in the future. We must work together to achieve an increase of the research budget for renewablesand that good applications can be successfullyapproved with a rate of at least 60 percent. Thiswill require a budget three times as high. It isalso to help the German industry remain inter-nationally competitive. The means to this endare certainly not sufficient.

Two-track funding approach:Preliminary research and applied research

Staiß: Every innovation starts with a fundamen-tal invention. Then there is the pioneer marketsuch as we have today for solar thermal powerplants. Then there is the market introduction,as now in photovoltaics. Market penetrationcomes next, such as for onshore turbines. This isfollowed by market saturation, now seen withhydroelectric power plants. The question is: Dowe engage in research for the next 2 years tomaintain a delta of technological advantage?Yes! But we also need preliminary research todiscover revolutionary innovations for new applications which may only come about in 10years time. This is the art of balancing, both ofPV but also of other areas such as solar thermal

Panel discussion

139


Prof. Dr. Frithjof StaißManaging Director [email protected]

power plants, geothermal energy, ocean energyand energy storage. A healthy balance has to befound.

Rau (Roth und Rau AG): My comment regar-ding the BMU: Of course it is important to dopreliminary and strategic research here in theRenewable Energy Research Association. Butwhen we file an application as an industry, it isusually for projects that really need a fast imple-mentation for reasons of competitive advantage.When we engage in a specific technology, weneed it to be ready for the market by the yearafter next the latest. The application phases aretoo long in many cases. After all, the innovationadvantage of German companies is the rapidrealisation of these projects.

Competitors in Asia or wherever need 2 years aswell. They do not necessarily rely on our workbut conduct their own R&D. Our research environment is in direct competition to them,too. You have to consider that when you arethinking about deadlines.

Kaiser: To me, it seems a bit too hectic to say“If we do not make it in two years, then it isover”. The bureaucratic response: We are talking about the federal budget 2010 at themoment. It will come into effect in April 2010.Then you can apply for funding in May and it isdecided on in September.

Now the research policy response: If the Ameri-cans put a lot of money into renewable researchnow, it will not terribly surprise us at the Mini-stry. Americans are quick to put a lot of moneyinto an area but two years later, they also with-draw it just as quickly. The strength of Germanywas and is continuity. The combination of short-term and long-term projects and the persistentpursuit of many different paths.

We also view the fact that there are several ministries active in research funding as astrength because it provides for a plurality ofapproaches. There simply are several decision-makers, all of which are important and relatedin a very interesting way. This is a good structure as long as we work together and notagainst each other, as long as we share andavoid overlapping research, utilise synergies andencourage plurality.

Not underestimating competition from the U.S.

Staiß: At this point, I would like to disagreequite strongly with Mr Kaiser because this American in-and-out policy has now taken on awholly different quality. The Solar Energy Technology Programme rules that the solar research budget will be doubled for 2010, soanother added 100 million euros. Of thisamount, nearly 70 million goes to the NationalRenewables Energy Lab, and they work at ahigh level. Indeed, we are also competing forresearch leadership in several other fields. Wehave to be careful here, and there are also someindustrial policy arguments. The U.S. would beso stupid if they would let their market for renewables, as it is visible today, be taken awayfrom them. They are extremely professional andwhen they start something, they see it to theend. Underestimating the Americans would befatal. This is why the FVEE recommends increa-sing funding significantly. The 20 percent peryear we suggested is an enforceable compro-mise in politics but in fact, research needs considerably more.

Kaiser: What was NREL’s problem in the USA?Their financing was secured via institutional funding but for whom were they supposed todo research? They had a buyer market whichwas hinged on tax concessions that had to bepassed through congress every year – or some-times not. You will not find a continuous part-ner there. In Germany, we have a solid researchlandscape based on continuously developedproject funding. We have an excellent researchlandscape and we have an attractive domesticmarket on which you can put your research products and where you can find industrial partners. And we have a broad political consen-sus through all parties in the Bundestag, without any exception – this is a fantastic constellation. Now it is important that we, afterhaving invested a lot in the past to develop thispotential, put it to use. We cannot allow ourselves to make mistakes at this point.

We have to keep on improving. So my appeal toyou is: Let us fight together, and not as compe-titors in the various renewable energy sourcefields, to ensure that we all make progress. We

Panel discussion

140


must pull together and clearly show the decision-makers that this is not for amusementbut rather for our medium-term future.

Research funding as an industrial policy?

Oberzig: There is the expectation that researchpolicy increases competitiveness and createsjobs. Is research policy also an industrial policy?

Kaiser: Of course we have an interest in thecontinued development of our research land-scape, in its stability, networking and good lineto industrial applications. Our impression is thatthis works quite well. During the presentationby Mr Nick-Leptin (BMU), you heard that of theresearch titles of the Federal Ministry for the Environment for photovoltaics, about half of thefunds go to the Renewable Energy Research Association but a good third goes to industrialprojects. I think this distribution is very reason-able. We should continue to carefully pursuethis transfer from research to practical applica -tions. In this sense, research policy is indeed in-dustrial policy with a strong scientific backdrop.

Staiß: Science is not an end in itself. The effectsof 20 years of Research Association demonstratethis. Today’s companies would certainly not beas successful as they are if they had not receivedthe technological input. This is also a questionof cycles. Public research funding heavily invested in photovoltaics in the beginning; theinstitutes – also those of the Research Associa-tion – took part in the technology transfer.There are very close partnerships with the companies in which we conduct joint R&D.

In the meantime, the sum of research invest-ments from the PV industry is four times the public research funding, and that is only rightand fitting. It is a stated objective and mandateof the Research Association to support the industry, but also to work out new scientificideas that may only become important at a latertime.

Industrial policy: Clusters ofexcellence

Oberzig: Is the Solar Valley in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia a concept with which onecan improve efficiency in research and whichcould also be part of an industrial policy?

Aulich: We have an excellent research and development landscape in Germany, we haveoutstanding people, we have scientists whoenter into the field of solar energy – a very attractive subject – and want to work hard. Onthe subject of clusters of excellence, it is still tooearly for a final evaluation because it is only ayear old. I think the approach is very good, itcould be implemented very quickly but alsoproved quite complex here and there, a factthat should not be overlooked. In Solar Valley,there is a total of more than 98 individual pro-jects in the various programmes that all need tobe coordinated. Given the international compe-tition, I think it is very fortunate that there arecompanies of many stages of the value-addedchain located there, all within a radius of 100km. You can even work together with yourcompetitors because the problem is perhaps 3-4 years ahead. It is a good thing when morepeople come to the region – whether they aresuppliers or investors. A cluster of excellence islike a boiling pot with the lid pressed onto it:pressure builds up faster and new ideas willbubble up. I think it is a very good approach.

Panel discussion

141


Johannes Schiel VDMA, Consultant forwind energy and [email protected]

Research and development asan industrial policy

Schiel: The German Engineering AssociationVDMA represents manufacturers who offer pro-ducts for all kinds of energy technologies, notjust for renewables. We have had difficulties inthe VDMA, for example regarding the integra-tion of photovoltaics on the manufacturer sidebecause we do not want to politically supportthe high PV remunerations. However, we re-cognised early that there is a strong group ofmanufacturers within the VDMA that is engagedin exploring photovoltaic production facilities.This group receives far too little attention inGerman discussions. The photovoltaics industryis often spoken about as if it lacks sufficient export quotas. Indeed, production technologiesin Germany achieve a turnover of over 2 billioneuros and 80% of this is exported. In this respect, we have a very strong photovoltaic production facility industry in Germany – in addition to the well-known end-product manu-facturers.

The photovoltaic and wind industry providegood examples of a successful industrial policyencompassing basic research, demonstrationprojects and market introduction back-up. Withthe aid of energy policy instruments, an entireindustry has been established. This holds especially true for the wind energy industry withthe 100 and 250 MW Programme. We are attempting something similar in the area of fuelcell technologies with the National InnovationProgramme. Something like that sometimesgoes well and sometimes it does not. Backwhen the 100,000 Roofs Programme was discussed and implemented, I was working for aMember of Parliament and still vividly remem-ber the difficulties of this process. We are nowexperiencing something similar with the marketintroduction of fuel cells, and electromobilitypowered by batteries will probably face thesame problems. It seems very important to methat the various industrial policy tools – andR&D funding is, in my view, such an industrialpolicy tool – go hand in hand and ensure thereare no gaps between research, development,demonstration and market introduction, or elsethe industry will fall into a recession.

If you have found an industry to be innovativewith a promising export potential, then youhave to engage in R&D even if it is ready for themarket. There are research papers, such as thatof the Helmholtz Association, that regard thewind industry as a market-ready technology nolonger as worthy of research funding as otherindustries. I think that R&D has to remain an instrument of industrial policy – even if a technology is relatively close to the market oreven ready for market launch.

Research for other climate regions

Uh (GTZ): I would also like to address some sectors other than PV for emerging and developing countries. An example from Morocco: Solar thermal systems are mainly usedin combination with thermosiphons there. Sucha system has a size of 2 m², produces 200 litresof warm water and costs about 1,000 euros.The mean per capita income in Morocco is1,000 euros a year as well. So you can roughlyestimate the proportion of the population thatcould afford it. And who needs 200 litres of hotwater per head and day in Morocco? Storagecollectors are, I am convinced of that, a fast seller for the whole MENA region. To do this,you need partners and possibly a trans-nationalresearch programme with a university in Morocco or in another country. This is just oneexample, but you always have to look very care-fully as to what the markets beyond the develo-ped countries actually need.

The same with medium wind power: This tech-nology fully evolved in developed countries andwas subsequently never optimised to meet thedemands of the countries where it was newlydeployed. Actually, it would have had just theright size for many electricity grids in developingcountries but technically, it is still stuck in 1985.The demand for optimisation has to be lookedat.

There is also a lot of work to be done regardinggrid integration. But – and this important pointis addressed to Mr Wollin from the BMBF andMr Kaiser from the BMU – you cannot achieveall that from here.That is, we actually have to

Panel discussion

142


think about getting the products from Germanmanufacturers to the right place. What drives is the climate problem and that is a global one.

us

Shortage of skilled workers –promotion of young talent

Schneider (University of Applied Sciences Berlin, HTW): We have talked a lot about deve-lopment and growth now. To what extent doyou consider the limits of available technicalstaff? Some graphs show an almost exponentialgrowth for renewables but the universities donot provide this kind of output. How do you respond to this fact?

Schmid: The promotion of young talent is anextremely important issue and I think that academic and institutional research is suitablefor this in order to add to the educational andtraining spectrum. We have a massive shortageof engineers in the entire machine and plantconstruction sector, even so during the econo-mic crisis. We have a demand for additional experts especially in the rapidly growing renew -able energy industry. This is particularly true forthe wind industry. The graphs for Germanyshown to us by the German Renewable EnergyFederation may yet be accommodated some-how. But when installation is ready and donewith in Europe, then there will be a lack of experts to manufacture to capacity. This is oneof the key tasks for the next few years and it isnot only specific to renewable energies. Themanufacturer of a bearing or a gear box doesnot necessarily have to have special training as a“renewable energies engineer”, but has simplyto be a good mechanic or mechatronics engineer.

Aulich: I would like to differ from Mr Schmidon this. Photovoltaics have a huge demand for junior staff as skilled workers and in the bachelor’s and master area. There are many approaches that can be supported by joint campaigns, allowing you to exercise some pressure on politics.

This is one of the advantages of a cluster formation such as the Solar Valley Central Germany. In Erfurt, for example, a training

centre for photovoltaics and advanced techno-logy is being built in which several hundred apprentices will be trained in the coming years.There are also endowed chairs ensuring that thesubject of photovoltaics is taught at universities.

Staiß: I think young people are in a position toproperly assess their future prospects – perhapsthe 130 students at this meeting are a good example. Regarding renewable energies, we donot necessarily need specialists but generalists incertain sectors such as process engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering,chemistry and physics that focus on renewables.Asking actively teaching colleagues of the insti-tutes in the Research Association, I learned thatthe number of students quadrupled in the last 2 to 3 years. I think that the students themselvesmake a statement with their participation, anduniversities will listen to this statement. Thereare now a one and a half dozen interdisciplinarymaster’s and bachelor’s programmes. So I amquite confident regarding the future. The oneand a half million employees in the green indu-stry give cause for a positive outlook.

Kaiser: The courses at the universities and uni-versities of applied sciences are the federalstates’ responsibility. As the federal government,we cannot do much for the promotion of skilledworkers except help by forming opinions. Butthe decisions made on the federal state levelhave longer-term effects. If you fully develop acourse, it will have consequences on the labourmarket 4 to 6 years later. This only makes senseif you find a stable environment, when you canplausibly say that those people you are now attracting to the courses are needed in 5 to 7years time. Therefore it presupposes that we, inthe federal government, pursue a policy thathas a long-term orientation.

Do you understand what I am talking about?We have to create a remuneration structure inthe area of photovoltaics that enables people todo good business not only in 2010 and perhapsin the first half of 2011. We have to set down astable political foundation that can bear theload up to 10 years in advance.

Panel discussion

143


International cooperation

Staiß: We heard many presentations at the annual conference regarding the adaptation oftechnology to local conditions in other countries, to the regional climates, to grid integration, but also to the respective societiesand cultures. To these ends, we require specificknowledge from the user countries. In this respect, an ideal research partner for globalmarkets should offer competencies that comple-ment our own. We can learn much from oneanother and especially from developing countries. So it does not always have to be anEast-West partnership, it can also be a South-North partnership. There are many good examples in the Research Association. For example, when it comes to solar construction itis a wholly different story for Asia than it is forCentral Europe. In this respect, it is obvious thatyou are going to look for a partner that can provide a lot of input based on experience withthe climatic requirements.

Our deficit lies in non-European research colla-borations. Americans and Europeans mainly engage in science in a competitive way. This

leads to a healthy competition. But on the otherhand, we are not utilising synergies and haveduplications of effort. There is practically nobudget provided jointly that allows to increasethe attractiveness of international and non-Euro-pean research by offering a budget that can beapplied to together. In Europe, we have the advantage of being strongly networked in scientific efforts. This is missing at the interna-tional level and is urgently required for globalmarkets.

Kaiser: Yes, we do have budgets for internatio-nal cooperation, allowing for joint applications.We have an agreement with Israel. My sugge-stion would be a reverse approach: If you find ameaningful level of cooperation, then file a request to the BMU or the BMBF for a joint project. The ministries would like to supportsuch non-European cooperations because weperceive this deficit in the same way as you do.But we believe that this ought to grow from thebottom up, from the initiative of specific agree-ments between the institutes, rather than us developing a framework agreement and thendesperately searching for participants.

Panel discussion

144


Public relations for renewables

Hoffmann: This mix of measures still requires akey element: communication! There is notenough publicity to generate the necessarypressure. At this conference, we have heard alot about price learning curves. We, as an industry, believe that it will continue to holdtrue for the next 10-15-20 years due to techno-logy-driven products. But it is an important taskto communicate this fact to the general popula-tion. The renewables industry – and I include research – has to create a very different under-standing of the necessity of renewables in thegeneral public to carry it successfully into the future.

Of course, this includes inspiring young peopleto enter into these professions. The topic of renewables, especially photovoltaics, suffered analmost exclusively negative reporting in themedia in the last three months: the discussionof the energy feed-in act, quotations from theRWI Essen and the Photon magazine, reports inZeit, Handelsblatt, Financial Times Germany andDer Spiegel.

At the weekend preceding the coalition consul-tation, we placed a half-page ad in the Frankfurter Allgemeine with Mr Weber from theFraunhofer ISE to counter the bad press with afew positive facts about photovoltaics.

I think we are all prompted to put things intoperspective here. Positive communication willhopefully also encourage more young people tostart scientific studies and achieve something inthis great environment. I hope that we can getmore people involved across the entire value-added chain. Generally speaking, we need mechatronic engineers, solar engineers andpeople skilled in individual technologies such aswind energy or fuel cells. We need more youngpeople in all of these fields if we are to realisethe goal of 100 percent renewables.

Panel discussion

145


146


The Annual Conference 2009 was supported by:

Cooperation partner

Sponsorer and patron

Patron

Supporting partners

Acknowledgement of sponsors and contributors

Bundesministeriumfür Umwelt, Naturschutzund Reaktorsicherheit

Bundesministeriumfür Bildung und Forschung

Auswärtiges Amt


SMA – The Future of Solar Technology

As a global market leader, SMA Solar Techno-logy AG develop, manufacture and market solarinverters and monitoring systems for photovol-taic systems. The most important componentand the core of photovoltaic systems are SMAsolar inverters that convert the direct currentgenerated by solar modules into grid-compliantalternating current. In addition, as smart systemmanagers, the inverters are responsible for monitoring and grid management. As the onlymanufacturer, SMA offer the right inverter typefor every module type worldwide and for allperformance classes. From kilowatts to mega-watts, both for grid-connected applications andfor stand-alone and back-up operation.

Technological lead and flexibleproduction

SMA’s business model is driven by technologicalprogress. This is why the company continues toinvest in research and development: Over 400engineers ensure that SMA Solar Technology AGcontinue to expand on their technological edgeand are able to introduce five to six new products per year. Due to flexible and scalablemanufacture, SMA are in a position to quicklyrespond to customer needs and realise productinnovations in a timely manner. This allows thecompany to easily keep pace with the dynamicmarket development in photovoltaics industryand simultaneously accommodate short-termfluctuations in the demand for solar inverters.The company set a trend with the world’s largest CO2-neutral solar inverter factory opened in 2009: CO2-neutral industrial manu-facture at a high level.

Worldwide presence

With overseas branches in twelve countries onfour continents, SMA are represented in allmajor international solar markets. The TecDAX-listed company currently employs more than4,000 employees worldwide (including tempo-rary workers).

Award-winning corporate culture

For their performance as an employer, SMAhave been awarded prizes several times in recent years. In case of the “Great Place toWork® Award“, they have been highly acclaimedseveral times as one of the best employers inEurope. In 2008, SMA were also awarded a special prize for the “lifelong learning” project,and in 2009 for their fair compensation system.The Board of SMA Solar Technology AG also received the German Fairness Prize in 2009. TheFairness Foundation honoured the commitmentof the board members to a fair and cooperativecorporate management.

Sponsor

147

148


Locations of FVEE member institutes

Berlin

Fraunhofer ISE

HZB

GFZ

ISFH

ZAE Bayern

ZAE Bayern

ZAE Bayern

Fraunhofer IWES

ZSW

ZSWDLR

Fraunhofer IBP Fraunhofer IBP

Fraunhofer ISE

ForschungszentrumJülich

DLR

Potsdam

Hameln/Emmerthal

Kassel

WürzburgHanau

Erlangen

Jülich

Köln

Gelsenkirchen

Freiburg

Stuttgart

Saarbrücken

Ulm

München

Holzkirchen

Fraunhofer IBP

Fraunhofer IWES

Garching

Renewable Energy Research Association (FVEE) • Kekuléstrasse 5 • 12489 Berlin • Germany Telephone: +49 (0)30/8062-41338 • [email protected] • www.fvee.de

IZES

Fraunhofer IWES

Bremerhaven

149


Addresses of FVEE member institutesDLR German Aerospace Center in the Helmholtz As-sociationZentrum Köln-Porz • 51170 Cologne, GermanyProf. Dr. Robert Pitz-Paal:Telephone +49 (0)2203/[email protected]

Location StuttgartPfaffenwaldring 38–40 • 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

DLR Project team atPSA Plataforma Solar de AlmeríaApartado 39 • E-04200 Tabernas (Almería)

Forschungszentrum Jülich 52425 Jülich, GermanyDr. Anne Rother:Telephone +49 (0)2461/61-4661 [email protected] www.fz-juelich.de

Fraunhofer IBP Fraunhofer Institute for BuildingPhysicsNobelstr. 12 • 70569 Stuttgart, GermanyRita Schwab:Telephone +49 (0)711/[email protected]

Location HolzkirchenFraunhoferstr. 10 • 83626 Valley, GermanyJanis Eitner:Telephone +49 (0)8024/[email protected]

Project group Kassel Gottschalkstrasse 28a • 34127 Kassel, Germany

Fraunhofer ISEFraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy SystemsHeidenhofstrasse 2 • 79110 Freiburg, Germanywww.ise.fraunhofer.deKarin Schneider:Telephone +49 (0)761/[email protected]

Fraunhofer Center for Silicon Photovoltaics CSP Walter-Hülse-Strasse 1 • 06120 Halle, Germany

Technology Center for Semiconductors THM Am St.-Niclas-Schacht 13 • 09599 Freiberg, Germany

Laboratory and Service Center Gelsenkirchen Auf der Reihe 2 • 45884 Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Fraunhofer IWESFraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy andEnergy System Technology

Branch KasselKönigstor 59 • 34119 Kassel, GermanyUwe Krengel:Telephone +49 (0)561/[email protected]

Branch BremerhavenAm Seedeich 45 • 27572 Bremerhaven, GermanyBritta RollertTelephone +49 (0)471/14 [email protected]

GFZ Helmholtz Centre Potsdam German Research Centre for GeosciencesTelegrafenberg • 14473 Potsdam, Germany Franz Ossing: Telephone +49 (0)331/[email protected] www.gfz-potsdam.de

HZB Helmholtz Centre Berlinfor Materials and EnergyLise-Meitner-CampusGlienicker Strasse 100 • 14109 Berlin-Wannsee,GermanyDr. Ina Helms:Telephone +49 (0)30/[email protected]

Campus Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Kekuléstrasse 5 • 12489 Berlin-Adlershof, Germany

ISFH Institute for Solar Energy ResearchHameln/EmmerthalAm Ohrberg 1 • 31860 Emmerthal, GermanyDr. Roland Goslich:Telephone +49 (0)5151/[email protected]

IZES GmbHInstitute for Future Energy SystemsAltenkesseler Str. 17 • 66115 Saarbrücken, GermanyBarbara Dröschel:Telephone +49 (0)681/[email protected]

ZAE Bavarian Center for Applied Energy ResearchAm Hubland • 97074 Würzburg, GermanyAnja Matern-Lang: Telephone +49 (0)931/[email protected] www.zae-bayern.de

Location Garching Walther-Meißner-Str. 6 • 85748 Garching, Germany

Location ErlangenAm Weichselgarten 7 • 91058 Erlangen, Germany

ZSW Centre for Solar Energy andHydrogen Research Baden WürttembergNon-profit foundationIndustriestrasse 6 • 70565 Stuttgart, GermanyKarl-Heinz Frietsch:Telephone +49 (0)711/[email protected]

Location UlmHelmholtzstrasse 8 • 89081 Ulm, Germany

150


Legal notice • Topics 2009

Research for global markets for renewable energies

Published by

Renewable Energy Research Association (ForschungsVerbund Erneuerbare Energien)Kekuléstr. 5 • 12489 Berlin, GermanyTel.: +49 (0)30/8062-41338Fax: +49 (0)30/8062-41333E-mail: [email protected]: www.fvee.de

Edited by

Dr. Gerd StadermannPetra Szczepanski

Supported by

The Renewable Energy Research Association is supported by the following German ministries:

• BMU – Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety• BMBF – Federal Ministry of Education and Research• BMWi – Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology• BMELV – Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection• BMVBS – Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development

Media design

Hoch3 GmbH – design and advertising agency

Berlin, April 2010 (German edition) • April 2011 (English edition)

ISSN • 0939-7582

Office c/o Helmholtz Centre Berlin • Kekuléstrasse 5 • 12489 Berlin • GermanyTelephone: +49 30/8062-41338 • Fax: +49 30/8062-41333 • [email protected] • www.fvee.de

Documents

Research for global markets for renewable energies...Research for global markets for renewable energies Annual conference of the Renewable Energy Research Association in cooperation