8 Flexible Consumers
WHERE WE PLAY > Energy
Industrial Flexibility
Demand Side Management
This 9-Box diagram visualizes a relation between renewable energies and industrial flexibility for Germany. It shows the combination of non-controllable electricity generation PV and Wind) and controllable demand in an industry nation. The higher the share in renewable energies, the higher the demand for flexibilty in consumption. Taking the peak demand of roughly 80 GW in Germany, this would lead to 4, 8, 12 GW of industrial flexibility in the sweet spot for 20, 40, 60% of renewable energies.
Moving industrial societies from conventional electricity to renewable energies require a new way of thinking. Historically all strategies were designed for efficiency and low energy consumption. However, a system based on Wind and Solar requires Flexibility of the Consumer. Therefore, Flexibility and Monitoring needs to be embedded in every process step
Comment:
Making industry compatible with renewable energies requires different way of thinking and also different incentivation schemes. in the reneable energy aera flexibility is more important than efficiency. It is less critical how much is consumed, but when it is consumed.
Therefore, in future political systems must incentivise flexibility as an entrance card for reduced energy tariffs.