Energy flexibility in the industry – focus bavaria

On behalf of the Vereinigung der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e.V., FfE is preparing a study and a practical guide on the subject of industrial flexibility in Bavaria as part of this project. The main aim of the project is to impart practical knowledge on the role and use of various flexibility options in the industrial sector.

Motivation

In light of the growing proportion of renewable energies in the electricity mix, both companies and the energy system are faced with the challenge of efficiently managing fluctuations in energy generation. Industrial flexibility can play an important, complementary role to other flexibility options such as battery storage or bidirectional charging. With the rapidly changing framework conditions, companies must inevitably deal with the upheavals in the energy system. By addressing the issue, however, they will be able to adapt to the changing market conditions at an early stage, react efficiently to dynamic environmental influences and open up new business areas.

Project Objectives

In the first part of this project, a compact study will be carried out to provide basic knowledge. The aim is to identify flexibility potential and requirements in Bavaria, taking into account both the system and stakeholder perspectives. In the second part, a practical guide will be developed to help companies quantify possible flexibility potential in their own operations step by step. With the help of the practical guide, companies should be able to better assess and evaluate the relevance of flexibility provision in their own company and, if necessary, initiate a more in-depth examination of this topic.

Methodology

Based on existing FfE transformation scenarios, flexibility requirements in the Bavarian energy system are quantified and compared with the flexibility potential of industry in Bavaria. The systemic view is then expanded to include the perspective of the stakeholders. To this end, marketing opportunities for industrial flexibility are presented. The study also looks at current challenges and obstacles that currently stand in the way of tapping into industrial flexibility. Based on this, recommendations for action are discussed which address the obstacles.

In the second part, a practical guide is developed that is primarily aimed at companies that have had little contact with the topic of flexibility to date. The guide is intended to familiarize these companies with the basics of energy flexibility in industry. In addition to an overview of typical flexibility measures and systems that can be made more flexible, the guide contains a methodology for identifying and evaluating flexibility in the company, which is intended to support companies in increasing flexibility in their own company. The individual steps are accompanied by a concrete example that illustrates the procedure. In addition, the methodology is supplemented by practical tips and exemplary experiences from Bavarian industry in order to supplement the practical relevance.

Results

The study examined various aspects of industrial flexibility in Bavaria from both a system and an actor perspective. The following statements can be derived from this:

• The demand for flexibility in Bavaria will increase sharply.
  In 2040, 30 GW of electrical flexibility will be required in the scenario under consideration to balance volatile generation from renewable energies and electricity consumption. In comparison, the peak load of the end energy sectors is 33 GW in 2040.
• Various flexibility measures and marketing options are available to industrial companies. Depending on the sector, different plants can be considered for flexibilization. In addition, there are cross-sectional technologies in each sector for which flexibilization can be examined. If flexibility potential is exploited, marketing can also be considered in addition to optimizing self-consumption.
• 15 percent of Germany’s flexibility potential is located in Bavaria.
  In the scenario under consideration, potential of 7.5 GW for load shifting of industrial processes and cross-section technologies is tapped for Germany by 2045. Of this, 1.1 GW can be attributed to Bavaria in 2045. However, industrial flexibility is only one of many possible flexibility options and alone is not sufficient to cover the flexibility requirements in the Bavarian energy system. Other flexibility options such as large-scale battery storage and bidirectional charging electric vehicles are also required.
• Various influencing factors limit the flexibility potential that can be implemented today.
  Various influencing factors, which can be divided into the regulatory, technological, organizational and socio-economic categories, are currently hampering the provision of flexibility. In order to exploit the potential, disincentives in the grid fee system must be reduced and access barriers lowered, among other things.

Figure 1 shows the methodology developed in the practical guide for identifying and evaluating flexibility in companies. This is intended to support companies step by step from the planning to the implementation of flexibility in the company. Each of the steps is based on key questions that companies should answer in order to assess the potential for flexibility in the company. An economic evaluation and an assessment of risks and interactions should ultimately show which systems and measures are worth implementing.