"Decisive cooperation in the expansion of renewable energies and intelligent energy supply is more important than ever before: the global challenges we face are enormous. Focussed actions are the only way to meet these challenges, "stressed VDE CEO Ansgar Hinz at the conference. The most important success factors for a new energy system are safety, interoperability and social acceptance, from a technical and societal point of view, according to Hinz. "From a purely economic perspective, it is bankability, investability, insurability and the return of investment."
"Safety, Security and Acceptability are the key factors for the success of the energy transition", said VDE-CEO Ansgar Hinz.
| State Grid Corporation ChinaVDE and State Grid China: Partners in the expansion and integration of renewable energies
Modern, international standards for the expansion of renewables
"Modern international standards such as provided by VDE|DKE are important for the expansion of renewable energies," emphasizes Shu Yinbiao, President of the State Grid Corporation of China.
| State Grid Corporation China"China has ambitious targets for expanding renewable energies and integrating them into the grid," said Shu Yinbiao, President of the State Grid Corporation of China. By 2020, the country is planning to invest around € 343 billion in renewable energies, whose share of primary energy consumption is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2030. At present, the installed capacity of wind energy and photovoltaics amounts to 226 gigawatts. At the end of 2016, China represented 30 percent of the world's renewable energy output. "Modern, international standards, which are developed by VDE|DKE, are important for the expansion of renewable energies," emphasized Shu.
"Standards are essential for the technical and economic stability and sustainable development of the markets," says Hinz. While the energy system and its components generally have established international standards for a long time, these standards are still missing in the field of IT security: "In times of interoperability and digitalization - including electricity networks - these critical infrastructures are increasingly endangered by actions of hackers."
Success factors for the breakthrough of renewable energies
According to Hinz, safety, security and acceptance are three factors that are crucial for realizing the expansion of renewables world-wide:
- Developing global standards: They open up markets and ensure planning and investment security and reduce manufacturing costs.
- Expanding International Cooperations: The requirements for research and development of an intelligent energy supply system are too high and too expensive for a single country. Redundant developments must be avoided and cooperation must be improved. This is the only way to speed up the overall process.
- Improving national framework conditions: Government regulation should encourage investments, as investments require a regulatory environment that is fair, safe and reliable.
VDE paves the way for technical innovations and new markets
The VDE as a platform for science, standards and testing paves the way for technical innovations and new markets: The new version of the German standardization roadmap "E-Energy/Smart Grid" offers a new approach to standardization. The procedures developed in the roadmap are already in action in complex application fields such as electric mobility and smart home. The newly founded VDE Renewables GmbH offers worldwide quality assurance, certification and banking services for renewable energies. "The integration of renewables have to be implemented quickly worldwide," emphasized Hinz. "It's about the future of the next generations". "Germany as a pioneer in renewable energies has reduced the costs of renewable energies; now the large country have to take over their leadership roles," said Thorsten Herdan, head of the Department of Energy Policy at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi).
