European hydrogen, fuel cell and electrolyser
industry and grid services:
Contributions, business expectations, needs (S006)

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Hydrogen Europe, Brussels/BE

Is it the dawn of a paradigm shift? Or is it just another hype that comes up quite rapidly and finally upsets people as they do not see their expectations met? Indeed, hydrogen is about to become the new buzz word of the so called deep decarbonisation, which means the ban of CO2 emissions for more than 80 percent until 2050. This is extremely challenging but in order to make it affordable hydrogen becomes the game changer. It becomes obvious that the limitation to the power grid and electricity only is putting aside the assets that the huge European gas grid offers for the cheap transport of renewable or decarbonised power. Nearly on a weekly basis different studies underpin the decisive role of hydrogen molecules in addition to electrons.

What can the hydrogen, fuel cell and electrolyser industry contribute now in order to make this happen? Which business can be expected, what are the expectations of the EU legislators? Which are the needs of the sector?

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis is Secretary General of Hydrogen Europe. Before he was Representative of Infineon Technologies in Brussels and Member of the European Parliament (2004 – 2014) inter alia the ITRE Committee (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) where he could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the first and the second Joint Undertaking on hydrogen and fuel cells. In 2007 he was elected “MEP of the year” by his EP colleagues in the category “Research and Innovation“.

 

Flexible operation of technologies
through sector coupling (S007)

Jessica Thomsen, Noha Saad Hussein, Niklas Hartmann, Fraunhofer ISE, Freiburg/DE

Germany sets a target to increase the electricity generation from renewable sources and combined heat and power plants. The target increases the total cost of electricity carried by the consumers and puts pressure on a decentralized energy system in the operation management and expansion planning. Several scenarios are calculated for a decentral energy region to account for the need to increase flexibility within the region. In conclusion, flexibility options can reduce the total cost of the system, which provides an incentive for the region to upgrade the ICT infrastructure. And the region should set a long-term expansion target, with the consideration of flexibility options, infrastructure and technology expansion in the collaboration of the whole region to achieve the best solution.

Dipl.-Ing. Jessica Thomsen studied mechanical engineering with a focus on international project management at the University of Siegen (Germany) and Universidad de Talca (Chile). She joined at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in 2011 for her Diploma thesis on local manufacturing potentials of photovoltaic technologies in Morocco. Since then, she works as a researcher in the group Energy System Analysis. Her research focuses on energy system modeling and analysis for distributed energy systems. This includes renewable energies, as well as storage systems, demand-side management, and future smart grids. Her Ph.D. concentrates especially on the modeling and evaluation of distributed flexibilities in regional energy systems. The evaluation ranges from assessing an optimized operation and expansion planning up to the impacts of economic framework conditions on distributed flexibilities. In the past, she has also worked on the topics local manufacturing potential of renewable energies in different countries and techno-economic analyses of single technologies.

M. SC. Noha Saad Hussein studied Architectural Engineering and Environmental design in her Bachelor followed by a master degree in renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency at Kassel University. The Master Thesis was done at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE on the topic local manufacturing potential of CSP and Wind technologies in Egypt. Since then she works at the Fraunhofer ISE as a researcher in the Energy System Analysis group. The main focus of her studies is in the heating and cooling sector of different sectors with focus on the building sector. Currently the main fields of work are analyzing the effects of renewable energy integration and energy efficiency measures in the building sector on the energy system and the economic impact of certain measures. Her PhD is about building refurbishment and the effects of the measure on a decentralized energy system. In the past she also worked a lot on renewable energy integration potential in developing countries and mainly in the MENA Region while assessing local value creation potential in addition to researching alternative energy solutions for different sectors.

 

Hydrogen as the solution
to many problems – but how and when? (S008)

Andrei Zschocke, Uniper Innovation, Essen/DE

The trend of decarbonization started in the energy sector and will spread into the sectors of mobility, heat and chemistry. Here, hydrogen applications are discussed as versatile solutions to many unsolved problems concerning sector coupling, storage and emissions. Where other approaches such as direct use of electricity have shortcomings, hydrogen can offer effective and apparently unique solutions. From piloting the technology, we learned that the technology is ready for the market. However, stable positive business cases are still missing for this important approach. The presentation will deal with the relevant drivers for hydrogen, the synergies with the power grid and a possible way forward.

Andrei Zschocke is Innovation Manager at Uniper SE, Düsseldorf. In 2005 he followed E.ON and since 2016 he is Area Manager of Hydrogen at Innovation at Uniper. In 2000 he graduated as Geoscientist from the Technical University of Berlin, and in 2007 received his Doctoral Degree at RWTH Aachen.

Optimization strategies for the operation
of renewable energy units in smart markets (S009)

Alexander Dreher, Fraunhofer IEE (Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology), Kassel/DE

New business models for CHP plants are being explored to address the challenges and potentials of new smart markets currently being developed to reduce grid congestion. To this end, the flexibility potential of a market-oriented CHP will be examined applying MILP for the unit commitment in established power markets and new smart markets. In addition, the flexibility potential of a common portfolio of controllable and uncontrollable energy units, such as wind, will be analyzed.

Since February 2017, M.Sc. Marian Alexander Dreher has been supporting the Fraunhofer IEE in Kassel as a research associate. Before graduating from Erasmus University Rotterdam with a Master’s degree in International Economics, Alexander studied economics at the University of Bonn. During his time with the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Uruguay and Argentina, Alexander gained practical experience in the energy industry and was co-author of two studies on the Uruguayan energy market (wind power and energy efficiency). He gained further practical experience in science and energy economy at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) and an environmental consulting firm in Berlin. His current research focus is ancillary services and smart market related topics. Alexander deals in detail with the Frequency Restoration Reserve (FRR) capacity and distribution within the projects REstable and SystemKontext as well as the FRR provision by wind farms within the project Wind SRL. In the projects New 4.0 and C/Sells he is concerned with new flexibility markets and flexibility provision by CHPs and wind farms.

 

ENERGY market design
instead of ELECTRICITY market design (S010)

Matthias Sulzer, SCCER FEEBD, Empa, Zurich/CH

Electricity is the key technology in the energy transition. In order to exploit the full potential of electricity supply, complementary technologies from the heating, gas, mobility, etc. sectors must be taken into account. Therefore, we do not need an electricity market design but rather an energy market design that establish comprehensive conditions for innovations in the energy sector.

Matthias Sulzer is co-owner of Inretis Holding AG, which currently employs around 650 people in the field of energy and building technology throughout Switzerland. He also directs the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research – Future Energy Efficient Buildings & Districts (SCCER-FEEBD) at the EMPA and passes on his knowledge to students with lectureships at the ETH Zurich and Lucerne University of Applied Sciences.

 

Empirical data on DSM potentials
in the services sector (S011)

Ulrich Reiter, TEP Energy, Zurich/CH

Demand side management (DSM) is seen as promising, cost effective measure to cope with high shares of intermittent renewable energy in the grid system. Currently, data on DSM potentials in the services sector is scarce. We present findings and empirical data of four European countries including data on Switzerland, UK, Italy and Poland.

Ulrich Reiter (PhD) has graduated in environmental engineering at the ETH Zurich in 2006. Following his master’s degree, he continued his education as PhD-student at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in energy economics. During the years from 2010 until 2014, Ulrich Reiter worked in the field of renewable energies as project developer and group head for the Swiss utility Repower AG. Currently, he is working for TEP Energy GmbH as senior project manager.

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Posters (P001-P003)

Scaling management
of distributed energy storage systems (P001)

Hubert Abgottspon, René Schumann
SILAB – SMART INFRASTRUCTURE LABORATORY, HES-SO Valais, Sierre/CH

The management of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in order to provide energy market and / or electricity grid services comes into practice more and more. One of the next research questions is how to apply such a management to a larger number of interdependent BESS.
The study analyses possible concepts for this management as well as their computational
complexity. This complexity is important to consider if a large number (e.g. 100’000) of BESS should be managed.
Two different methodologies are compared, both from the perspective of a central optimization problem. The first one models…. read all here

Hubert Abgottspon (PhD) studied electrical engineering from 2004-2009, receiving both 

his Bachelor and Master diploma from the ETH Zurich with the specialization of energy and power electronics. His master thesis was about hydro power optimization, in which he was working together with the industry. Afterwards, there was the possibility to establish a PhD-project in the field of hydro power optimization at the Power Systems Laboratory at the ETH Zurich. Under the guidance of Prof. Göran Andersson and together with the industry partners EGL AG and BKW AG, different real-world problems were tackled. With …. read all here

 

Regulatory advances and improvements in LatinAmerica: Case study of VPP markets in Brazil (P002)

Tania Nalborczyk Leites (1), Luna Leão Glória (1), Neimar de Almeida Oliva (1), Débora Batissoco Sanches (1), Julia Howat da Rosa Rodrigues (2), Alexandre Monteiro Sanches (2)
(1) CERTI Foundation Campus Universitário UFSC – Setor C, (2) AES Tietê, Florianópolis, Brazil

This article explains the actual Brazilian regulatory framework for implementing Virtual Power Plants and estimates a roadmap for the creation of each market in which Virtual Power Plants could participate, contributing to understand the market potential of this new actor in the Brazilian scenario and the novel opportunities for monetizing resources while optimizing the electric grid operation. …. read all here

Tania Nalborczyk Leites studied Electrical Engineering in the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. In her position as Project Manager in CERTI Foundation, she acquired experience in the area of market intelligence for microgrids, energy efficiency, demand response and virtual power plants, including Brazilian regulation analysis, as well as businesses modeling, market research and pricing of various innovative products and solutions. …. get more info here

Grid Services
based on Demand Response and H2 technologies  (P003)

Jure Petkovšek, Zoran Marinšek, Sašo Brus, Uroš Glavina
INEA d.o.o., Stegne 11, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Intermittent nature of RES imposes considerable grid balancing capacities. GOFLEX project aims at establishing a market for distributed flexibilities, which will enable active participation of numerous so-called prosumers on the grid balancing market. A grid-integrated FCPP as a hydrogen prosumer will be developed by the GRASSHOPPER project.

Jure Petkovšek is a coordinator of the FCH-JU financed GRASSHOPPER project. He is M. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering after acquiring knowledge at the Ljubljana and the TU Munich universities. His working experience encompass R&D engineering and project coordination of new product development projects in the corporate environment and commissioning of the hydraulic power plants.

Zoran Marinšek, PhD, is a Scientific & Technical Manager of the GOFLEX project. He is a researcher and manager in the field of nuclear engineering, computer controlled systems in industry and internal energy system. He has already collaborated in many international  projects, including some FP5 projects.

Sašo Brus studied computer and information science at the Faculty of Computer and Information Science of Ljubljana, with focus on advanced computer networks and machine learning. Since 2013 he is the Head of IT department in INEA. Using his IT skills and open mind approach he is major INEA smart grid product developer.

Uroš Glavina holds M.Sc. degree from Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Ljubljana. Since 2008 he has been working as an application engineer, project manager and Head of Energy and Ecology department on several projects: international R&D projects involving Hydrogen technologies, Smart Grids, low temperature ORC systems, CHP plants installations, Energy Audits in industry.

 

 

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Chairs

Christoph Imboden, Co-Chair, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Lucerne/CH

Christoph Imboden is Professor for product innovation at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences HSLU and Head of Research at the Institute for Innovation and Technology Management. He is engaged in several research projects focusing on power economy. Christoph Imboden studied electrical engineering at the ETH Zurich, received his doctorate in 1995 and an executive MBA at the University of Zurich in 2006. He looks back to more than twenty years of industrial experience in different application areas of the energy, communication and information technologies.

Regine Reißner, Co-Chair, project coordinator QualyGridS, DLR, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Stuttgart/DE

Regine Reissner graduated in physics at the Universities of Stuttgart and Yale. She has been working as scientist at DLR since 1992. She is coordinator of the project QualyGridS having experience with PEM and alkaline electrolyser testing and testing procedures. Before she has been working in the fields of electrode development and cell testing for alkaline water electrolysis as well as in the fields of PEFC and DMFC fuel cells as well as surface analytics.

 

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