NRW Japan K.K. Fireplace Talk at Tokyo American Club

Transcription

1 NRW Japan K.K. Fireplace Talk at Tokyo American Club Current challenges for German utilities and the potential role of hydrogen Jens Klein, RWE Corporate R&D Tokyo,

2 German energy policy is observed world-wide and partly triggered national debates on energy How is the current German energy policy percieved in your country?! How are utilities affected?! Are there transferrable lessons learned?! what could the future role of R&D in energy business look like? 2014 Survey by WEC 35 responses world-wide RWE AG Group R&D

3 Looking back, utilities adapted to various target settings 1970s - Security of supply Oil crisis 1973, s - Environmental protection Limitation of emissions, forest decline 1990s - Economics Liberalisation of electricity and gas markets in EU Today - Climate protection Scientist s warnings of increasing global temperatures A consonance of the targets was never achieved RWE AG Group R&D

4 The German Federal Government assumes a decrease of power generation of 45 % until 2050 Energy concept of the German Federal Government 17% Decrease of power consumption 25% -45% Imports 20% RES (approx. 80% of generation) 58% 45% 25% Nuclear energy Conventional generation 10% Source: EWI/Prognos/GWS Studie RWE AG, Friedrich Schulte 22/05/2015 PAGE 4

5 Highly subsidized PV feed-in has inverted the traditional midday price peak German EEX electricity price on April 17 th, 2012 influenced by feed in from wind- und solar power GW /MWh Wind power [GW] PV power [GW] Price [ /MWh] h RWE AG Group R&D

6 Ownership of RES production in Germany Utilities 7% Big 4* 5% Others 1% Farmers 11% Private 35% Banks 13% Project developers 14% Business 14% Total: ~80GW * EnbW, EON, RWE, Vattenfall Source: Trendresearch, 2013 Study Anteile einzelner Marktakteure an EE-Anlagen in GER RWE AG Group R&D

7 Energy technologies are subject to a continuous development process In most cases it took decades from finding the basic principle to commercial use Photovoltaics Alexandre E. Becquerel France, 1839 Wind power James Blyth, England, 1895 E. Mobility Camille Jenatzy, Belgium, 1899 The development of technologies mainly depends on continuous progress in materials science, engineering and production methods - the same applies to hydrogen. RWE AG Group R&D

8 Fuel cell projects are not new to RWE. Looking back shows the road map for fuel cell application. Fuel cells market development Increasing maturity home energy, decentral, stationary automotive Portable systemes -replacingbatteries -auxillarypower units Industry, stationär 2009 > Technology driven by climate protection (CO 2 -Mitigation) > Manucatures try to gain first mover advantage

9 Today drivers are different: The storage of excess power from renewables in the gas grid provides some important... advantages... > Storage close to generation and balancing of fluctuating feed-in > Reduction of electricity grid bottlenecks > Gas grid provides large energy storage capacities up to seasonal storage > Contribution to the security of supply but also has disadvantages > High investments costs > Low efficiency > High economic costs > Lack of commercial maturity gasgrid powergrid Excess power from RES Load- Centers RWE AG, Friedrich Schulte 22/05/2015 PAGE 9

10 Hydrogen technology is the basic element of power 2 gas CO 2 η 77 % η 60 % η 72 % + - H 2 CH 4 CH 4 Natural gas production Existing gas grid +) G CCGT-plant Fluctuating generation el. Electrolysis η 55 % H 2 FC (new) H 2 Infrastructure H 2 Fuel cells > > Wind > H 2 > CH 4 -plans ~10x more expensive than electricity and gas today > Direct use of hydrogen might be an option > Significant technical development is still needed RWE AG, Friedrich Schulte 22/05/2015 PAGE 10

11 The market pull for CO2 reduced mobility concepts in Germany might strengthen fuel cell technology in the future Toyota puts fuel cell into the bus [ ] In contrast to the 4-seater vehicle Mirai the 10.5 meter bus contains two fuel cell stacks and eight hydrogen tanks at the same time[ ]. These can be also used as an emergency power generator in order to deliver power to buildings and facilities [ ] FOCUS online, RWE AG Group R&D

12 So far, H 2 -concepts were not successful in Germany can new developments solve the main present problems? Headlines so far Main problems of those concepts Solution ideas > High infrastructure costs for an All H 2 World (especially pipeline distribution) 1 > Instead of replacing the electricity system, only a complement without pipeline-distribution? > High production costs for renewable generated H 2 on the basis of electrolysis 2> Less expensive H 2 -production methods through new methods and cheaper production paths? > High conversion losses 3> Optimized FCs with efficiency > 65% (in 2008 this was still at about 40%)? RWE AG Group R&D

13 Of course I care about the future. I intend to spend rest of my remaining life in it Mark Twain, American author and humorist RWE AG Group R&D