German-American storage expert to help bring “Energiewende” to the next level

“enera” model project selected by German government for up to Euro 50 million grant / Younicos to provide storage expertise and software

Storage pioneer Younicos has been chosen to help create the blueprint for the next phase in Germany’s energy transition, or “Energiewende”. The German Ministry for Economics and Energy selected the “enera” consortium, which includes Younicos, for the flagship “intelligent energy“ SINTEG program. The project, valued at 200 million Euros (US$ 212m) overall, will receive up to 50 million Euros (US$ 53m) in government funding.

The goal of enera is to prove the use of new technologies for digitalized energy transition. One important objective is the use of IT and communications to optimize integration of the power grid, markets and data. Younicos will contribute its expertise in the local provision of ancillary services and the interaction of storage and markets.

“We are very pleased that the Ministry of Economics selected this exciting project. With enera, we’re showing nothing less than the energy system of the future,” says Younicos co-founder Clemens Triebel. “To reach climate targets and make the energy transition a success, we need to better link consumption, production and storage, as well as markets. The key to that is software that’s smart enough to measure, process and control energy with the highest levels of efficiency. In over ten years of pioneering work, we’ve developed entirely new communication approaches between the power grid, electricity market and battery plants. It is exactly this type of ICT expertise that’s needed for a new energy system.”

The 2,665-square-kilometer (1,028-square-mile) enera model region is predominantly agricultural, but also includes industrial centers. It is therefore ideally suited to represent the energy transition on a small scale. The region already utilizes wind and other renewable energy resources with a total capacity of 1.75 gigawatts, resulting in a 2013 “net balance” share of more than 170 percent renewable energy, the surplus of which was exported for use elsewhere.