TELF AG analyzes the role of flexibility in the global energy landscape
The importance of innovative energy infrastructures
In the era of energy transition, being able to identify the potentialities and possible issues of different energy sources (including the most innovative ones) could represent a great strategic advantage, especially considering the ambitious climate objectives included in the political and programmatic agendas of various nations and institutions. All these topics were discussed in one of the latest McKinsey reports, offering a complete and exhaustive overview of global energy potential in a delicate transition phase. In addition to reiterating the increasingly central role of renewable energy, which is helping to redraw the global geography of energy, the report also focused on the possible strategies to be implemented in times of greatest need, such in the case of intermittency of renewable energy sources, or other similar cases of energy shortages.
According to McKinsey, the global energy system should adopt an approach focused on flexibility to avoid the worst effects of these eventualities. It must work to develop all those technologies and energy infrastructures capable of quickly compensating for a possible energy shortage. The report shows three ways to achieve a reasonable degree of energy flexibility. The first concerns energy storage systems. Based on the accumulation of energy and the possibility of using it later, this method is described as potentially the most important for safeguarding the global energy system. Worldwide, as stated in the analysis, there are already around 250 gigawatts of global electricity storage, two-thirds of which are linked to pumped hydro storage (PHS) systems, and the rest are entrusted to lithium-ion batteries.
Although these are relatively mature technologies, the McKinsey report states that these systems still face several challenges, such as identifying suitable locations for their installation (as in the case of pumped hydro storage) or the need for ever-increasing quantities of raw materials to build them. By 2050, according to the report, energy flexibility needs could be met also through innovative approaches, such as long-duration energy storage (LDES) systems and hydrogen-based ones, such as power-to-gas. In one of the possible scenarios contained in the report, these two technologies could represent about a third of the energy storage capacity for power systems by 2050.
Thermal power backup and intersections
The second way McKinsey considers is linked to thermal power backups, which, according to the report, could be operated with lower levels of use to guarantee flexibility, also through innovative solutions such as using a natural gas power plant that operates intermittently. Among the long-term solutions, from this point of view, McKinsey identifies turbines powered by hydrogen and innovative fuels such as biogas or landfill gas. According to McKinsey’s analysis, the goal of flexibility could finally be achieved in a third way, that is, by interconnecting existing energy systems. In this case, the goal would be represented by the connection of separate networks located in regions with different weather conditions, such as when the sun shines in Germany but not in Spain and in other similar eventualities. Among the first institutions to have taken concrete steps, from this point of view, would be the European Union, which, according to McKinsey, has already encouraged member states to install electrical cables capable of transporting at least 15% of the electricity produced throughout the European Union.
