An overheated energy grid, what now?

Investing in large-scale sustainable energy generation has gained momentum in recent years. This energy is often sent directly to the energy grid, leaving little room for new initiatives. Are the farmers with roof space and the urge to invest the victims of this? And can energy storage and management offer a solution to still be able to invest? 

The grid operators say they will not invest in upgrading the energy grid in the coming years. They put the problem down to the generators, but also the opportunity to find solutions. In that sense, a farmer is the victim here. They want to invest in order to make a return, to improve their business operations sustainable and of course to improve their image towards society.

Moment of milking
The biggest problem lies with the distribution of the energy released during the day. For solar panels, for example, this is very peak-related: most energy is released around noon. In general, the dairy farmer has the least energy consumption and will have to transfer his energy to the energy grid, which therefore contributes to overload.

What if we could shift this peak on a local scale to a moment when the energy demand of one or more dairy farmers is highest: the milking session. In this way, the self-generated energy can be consumed on the farm itself. This is done (depending on the type of energy demand) by storing part of the generated energy, for example in the form of a lithium battery or a flow battery. That's peak shaving; the peak of the yield of solar panels is flattened and shifted to another moment.

Storage System
In addition, energy management can be used for peak shaving. This can be done by allowing the larger energy consumers, such as a manure mixer, manure scraper or manure dryer, to function when the peak of generation has been reached. All this is also necessary to reduce the capacity of the storage system, thereby depressing the price of the investment.

The costs of a storage system, and associated technology, are on the high side. Depending on the situation, lithium-ion costs range from €750 to €1250 per kWh. If the required storage capacity to bridge a few days is 350 kWh, this comes out to about €350.000. On the other hand, you now save energy that you would otherwise have had to sell on the grid at cost price. You do not have to purchase expensive energy (including energy tax).

Of course there is also the possibility to generate energy around the limitations of the grid operators. The yields are different in each specific case, partly because the energy demand and generation at each company is different.

sunny months
Furthermore, the greatest return on the company takes place in the sunny months (spring to early autumn), what is the revenue model for the winter? The capacity of the storage system makes it possible to trade on the imbalance market: the system becomes a temporary harbor for an excess of energy and releases it back into the grid when requested. Small amounts are reimbursed per kWh for these services. However, every cent is the start of 1 million, so the financial return of the system in the winter can compete with the savings in the summer.

All in all, there are therefore options for generating sustainable energy outside the grid limitations. Obviously, this is all still in its infancy and time will tell what grid operators think of the solution and what entrepreneurs think of the investment. However, for 20 years, most also looked at solar panels with frowns. Perhaps in 20 years this solution will be just as normal as investing in solar panels.

Written by Stijn Haarhuis. Haarhuis is a sustainable energy consultant at DLV Advies.

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