German "energy system of the future" to get EUR 50m in govt funds

The Enera consortium that will demonstrate "the energy system of the future" has been been awarded up to EUR 50 million (USD 54m) in government funding under the SINTEG programme, German-American storage company Younicos said.

The project will be carried out at a 2,665-sq-km (1,028-sq-mile) model region in northwestern Germany. The funding was awarded by the German Ministry for Economics and Energy, which launched the Smart Energy Showcases - Digital Agenda for the Energy Transition (SINTEG) initiative in February.

The 75-member consortium for the EUR-200-million Enera project is led by local utility EWE. The selected model region already uses wind and other renewable energy resources with a total capacity of 1.75 GW. In 2013 it had a "net balance" share of more than 170% renewable energy, the surplus of which was exported for use elsewhere.

Younicos' role is to provide storage expertise and software. Simply put, the goal of Enera is to prove the use of new technologies for digitalised energy transition. One important objective is the use of IT and communications to optimise integration of the power grid, markets and data, Younicos explained.

"To reach climate targets and make the energy transition a success, we need to better link consumption, production and storage, as well as markets," said Younicos co-founder Clemens Triebel, adding that the key to that was having smart enough software.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.080)

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