Smart electrification as the road forward

By

Bruno De Wachter

In the whitepaper 'Coping with the Energy Challenge / The IEC’s role from 2010 to 2030', smart electrification is seen as the key to a sustainable and efficient global energy system. By opting for renewable energy sources and using electrical energy in a smart and controlled manner, electricity can play the major roll in decarbonizing the global economy. This is not a business-as-usual scenario. Rather it is one that requires extra efforts in R&D and market development and support by a strong political commitment.
In the upcoming decades, we are facing a double global energy challenge. The first is how to meet the energy demand of a growing world population. We should envision a stable and secure energy access for all. This means that, among other things, we will have to bring electricity to the 1.6 billion of people who are currently without access or are yet to be born. Such universal access will double global energy demand. The second challenge is to stabilize the climate impact from fossil fuel use, which will required that CO2e emissions be halved. Coping with both challenges will require that the carbon intensity from energy use be reduced by a factor of four.

Electricity as the preferred energy carrier

The use of electricity as a universal energy carrier holds several advantages. The first is that electricity can be easily measured and controlled, making it possible to reduce energy losses to an absolute minimum. This will often justify the use of electricity as a primary energy carrier, even though it requires an extra conversion step when fossil fuels are used as a source. The second important advantage of electricity is that fossil fuels can increasingly be replaced by carbon free, renewable energy sources. Most renewable energy generation systems—including wind, solar photovoltaic, and hydro power—have electricity as a useful output.
When these advantages are used to their full potential, electricity becomes a strong instrument for tackling the energy challenges facing us. More specifically, electricity can be the major actor for de-carbonizing the global economy by:

1. Increasingly decarbonizing electricity generation
2. Improving the energy efficiency of electricity transmission and distribution
3. Replacing fossil fuel heating and transport systems by electric systems such as heat pumps and electric vehicles
4. Improving the energy efficiency of electricity end use in buildings and industry

We need extra effort

According to IEC, a full application of the existing mature technologies will not be enough to tackle our global energy challenges. In order to reduce the carbon intensity of energy services to one quarter of present levels by 2050, we need:

• A 40% energy efficiency improvement in industry and buildings, instead of the predicted potential of 30% that can be achieved with mature technologies
• A 50% share of renewables in the electricity generation, instead of the predicted potential of 30%
• A reduction in transmission and distribution energy losses from the current average of 9% to an average of 6%, instead of the predicted status quo
• A 10% improvement in generation efficiency, instead of the predicted potential of 5%

This calls for a rapid and full application of innovative technologies. Substantial investments must be made in R&D, in market development, and in the removal of structural barriers in existing markets. While the IEC paper does not spell it out explicitly, it is clear that only a strong political commitment to provide the necessary incentives will make this actually happen.

A broad portfolio of actions

The action domains listed by the IEC are largely aligned with the Leonardo Energy vision. They are of various kinds and situated at many levels. In any case, solutions must go beyond mere product improvement; a systems perspective is required.

Research and market development

It will take a substantial R&D effort to develop large scale, energy efficient, and economically sound energy storage systems. Such systems could compensate the output variations of wind turbines, enabling a higher penetration of wind power in the electricity mix. Energy storage systems are also an essential element in the development of micro-grids that function semi-autonomously from the national electricity grid and connect local renewable energy generation to local energy use.
Another significant R&D effort will be required to improve the energy efficiency of photovoltaic panels and reduce their cost.
Electric vehicles are already commercially available, but still need substantial technical improvements in terms of driving range, safety, and cost to become an attractive alternative to internal combustion motor vehicles. Apart from R&D efforts, the new market of electric vehicles will also require proper regulation and standardization.
Similar market development actions are required for solar thermal electricity generation. This technology is largely mature, but its market is still under-developed, calling for incentives, regulation, and standardization.

Removing structural market barriers

In industry, the monitoring and controllability of electricity by ICT can play an important role in improving energy efficiency. In addition, motor systems should receive high priority, since they account for approximately 70% of all electricity consumed by industry. The major barriers for energy efficiency in industry are non-technical. They include internal company incentives for minimizing capital investment instead of life cycle cost, and the minimizing of local department expenditures instead of the company-wide cost (split budgets). Benchmarking, while very useful in identifying areas where energy efficiency can be improved, is difficult at a system level, since it is subject to competitive pressures. This could be overcome through the development of reference architectures and best practices, published in standards and recommendations.
To improve the energy efficiency of buildings, smart metering, monitoring, and energy management systems are a fundamental part of the overall solution. The use of high-efficiency loads is equally important, including motors, cables, and lighting systems. The most energy intensive services in buildings are heating and cooling, both of which can be made highly energy efficient through the use of heat pumps. All of the technologies mentioned above are proven and available; the real issue is therefore one of implementation. There is some progress in new buildings, but the implementation rate of energy efficiency technology in existing buildings is slow. Renovation of existing buildings is critical, since buildings have a long lifespan and their replacing rate is slow. Activation of all levers will be required to achieve this.
To achieve the energy efficiency targets in transmission and distribution of electricity, both structural and technological actions are required. An important first step will be the general adoption of low loss rate equipment, such as high efficiency transformers and cables. In addition, the grid architecture will have to be rethought. Local, semi-autonomous micro-grids with energy storage and balancing tools will facilitate the connection of renewable generation systems and connect them immediately to demand, thus minimizing transmission losses. Both transmission and distribution require a dissemination of best practices and an unambiguous regulatory framework that enables grid operators to make substantial investments.

(Source : leonardoenergy )