Together with electric mobility and the associated ecological and technological developments, we are also directing our attention to the new organisation of the energy system – right through to a few central and many local electricity producers and storage units.
Getting More from Water, Sun and Wind
Electricity from small photovoltaic installations on house roofs; energy from biomass power plants just around the corner; wind power from the coastline of Northern Europe; electricity from hydropower plants in the Alps: the energy system of the future will fundamentally feed itself from renewable energies and therewith be subject to large fluctuations.
The Demand for Mobile Electricity Storage Units
In parallel to this we will have electric cars that are "on standby" for 97% of their lifespan. The large majority will thus only be actively used for a very short period of the day and can be connected to the power grid for the rest of the time.
Electric cars will be charged during these idle periods if there is sufficient electricity available from renewable sources. During periods of peak consumption, when too little electricity is available, the energy stored in the battery of the electric vehicle (approx. 10 % of the charge level) can be fed back into the public grid once more. This also enables fluctuations in the production of electricity from wind and solar energy to be balanced out.
The use of this stored energy – projected on the domestic automobile fleet – would amount to a total potential of an additional 8,000 megawatts of power plant capacity in Austria. By comparison, the entire Austrian power plant network currently provides more than 21,000 MW.