Happy Power Hour Project Recognised by KlimaExpo.NRW for Bringing Germany One Step Closer Towards the Energiewende

The strategy that Happy Power Hour is using sounds simple: showing industrial companies the advantages of shifting their production to when the sun is shining and winds are blowing. The required flexible energy tariffs that make it worth their while are a very innovative and effective approach to contributing to the German Energiewende – and the strategy was recognised by the KlimaExpo.NRW as one step towards a more sustainable future.

In the context of the German Energiewende, higher feeds of renewable energy cause fluctuations in the power grid – when the sun shines and solar cells produce energy in abundance, more than is needed at that moment, or when the sun doesn’t shine, and they don’t produce energy at all and demand cannot be met. Generally, this problem is being approached through the supply side – for example by providing storage capacity for excessive energy. The Happy Power Hour project, however, addresses the problem in an innovative way by creating and providing solutions for the demand site.

Together with its partners and selected regional industrial companies, the CSCP is identifying suitable processes within the companies that are now carried out at fixed times but have the potential to be shifted to other time periods, when, for example, wind energy is more readily available. To support this effort, the local energy provider – Wuppertaler Stadtwerke – is designing a dynamic electricity tariff that allows them to adjust the costs per megawatt hour depending on availability of energy on the market. They are also developing an interface that enables them to directly communicate with their large-company customers. This allows the energy provider to signal periods in which energy is more readily available and the companies to shift their energy intensive processes to those phases. This demands a great deal of trust between both actors, but the collaborative approach also leads to significant benefits for them: lower energy prices on the one hand, better match of supply and demand on the other.

For this innovative solution, the consortium consisting of the CSCP, Neue Effizienz, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, the local utility provider WSW and the Net Systems GmbH were awarded by KlimaExpo.NRW during its last Milestone event. The award honors initiatives that take a step towards making the Energiewende possible and achieving NRW’s climate goals. All featured initiatves can be found here (http://www.klimaexpo.nrw/klimaexpo/1000-schritte/schritte/ueberblickschritte271-300/).

If you are interested in learning more about the project, visit the project website. Happy Power Hour II is welcoming new companies, who want to test the potential that a dynamic energy tariff can have for them.

If you are interested to participate, contact project manager Pawel Zylka directly.