On the road to climate neutrality, energy-intensive industrial companies are confronted with a rapidly changing energy system. A study by the Competence Center for Climate Protection in Energy-Intensive Industries (KEI), Fraunhofer ISI and RWTH Aachen University now provides recommendations for action.
For the first time, the study examines the technical, economic and regulatory opportunities and obstacles to greater flexibility in the use of energy in the industrial sector. The flexibility options of the climate-neutral basic materials industry are analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively with a view to the entire German electricity system. This is combined with representative case studies of companies from the steel, aluminum, glass, cement and chemical industries that demonstrate a successful transition toCO2-free production - for example with regard to electrification, load shifting or hybrid plant supply. The 200-page paper also makes recommendations for making industrial processes more flexible.
Jakob Flechtner, Head of the Competence Centre for Climate Protection in Energy-Intensive Industries (KEI), says on the occasion of the study publication at RWTH Aachen University: "On the way to decarbonizing energy-intensive industry, a sharp rise in demand for electricity meets an increasingly wind- and sun-dependent generation and a grid infrastructure that cannot be expanded at will. This means that a spatially and temporally flexible supply, storage options and adapted demand are of central importance. Our study results offer companies in the basic materials industry and the energy sector sector-specific orientation for the strategic alignment of their plants. At the same time, they represent recommendations for action for political decision-makers, for example in the upcoming restructuring of grid fees."
While previous studies focused primarily on quantifying and evaluating the potential of making existing production processes more flexible, the new KEI study takes a much closer look at the future climate-neutral industrial and energy system. The expected electrification and the switch to hydrogen are in particular focus. The scientific work was carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI and the Institute for Industrial Furnace Construction and Heating Technology at RWTH Aachen University on behalf of the competence center based in Cottbus, Brandenburg.
The results of the study "Flexibilization of electrified industrial processes" were presented by the research team at RWTH Aachen University. Dr. Beate Baron, Head of the Decarbonization, Climate and Environmental Protection in Industry sub-department of the BMWK, and Prof. Dr. Christian Wuppermann, Institute Director, IOB - Institute for Industrial Furnace Construction and Heat Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, gave welcoming speeches. The next steps for implementing flexibility measures in Germany were discussed in a panel discussion at the end of the event.
