German Economics Ministry approves energy transition blueprint project enera

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Battery storage leader Younicos welcomes the launch of the showcase enera project. The four-year regional trial will provide a possible blueprint for the next stage of Germany's transition towards 100 percent renewable energy. It got its official "go-ahead" yesterday afternoon when the Ministry of Economics publicly handed over a grant certificate to a project consortium consisting of 70 partners, led by the utility EWE. Earlier in the day, enera project was also recognized as a “Landmark in the Land of Ideas” by the public-private “Land of ideas” initiative of the German Government and the Confederation of German industry (BDI).

The German-American storage pioneer Younicos will, among other things, contribute expertise in the integration of storage and markets to the project. "enera shows the value of intelligent battery systems for a safe and competitive power supply from renewable energy," explained Younicos CEO Stephen L. Prince. "But only when storage is efficiently linked with wind and solar production on the one hand, and with the markets on the other, can it deploy its full potential. The key to this is smart software, which ensures that all parts of the system work together smoothly."

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 implement 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.