“Networks cannot cope with the supply of green electricity.” A message that regularly appears in the media. It always strikes me.
We have been working on the energy transition for a while now, couldn't we have foreseen this? But somehow, it's not that spectacular.
"More sun, more wind"
It surprises me how one-sided people think when it comes to the energy transition. "More sun, more wind." is the credo. But that alone will not save us. We have solar panels on roofs. They all produce electricity at the same time in a small country like the Netherlands.
The energy market as an economic system
Even at times when there is no demand for that power. What good is sustainable energy if there is no demand for it? Instead of a one-sided view, it is better to see the energy market as an economic system. As with other goods, supply, demand, storage and transport are key variables that determine the functioning of the energy market.
The problem with renewable energy sources is that they do not produce more when there is more demand for electricity.
Windmills only produce more when there is more wind. We don't think about the supply of sustainable energy when we turn on the light. But we should.
Turn on the washing machine when the sun is shining and use cooling systems when the wind blows.
Store the solar energy
A well-functioning energy market is flexible enough to accommodate the variable supply of electricity from renewable sources. Consumers adapt their demand to the supply of sustainable energy. And if we don't consume it, we store it. Solar energy on Christmas Eve. We must go in that direction! This means that making real estate more sustainable goes beyond just installing solar panels.
Variable consumption
We need to invest in storage and variable energy consumption at the same time. You hear more and more about storage and batteries, but information about variable consumption is still lagging. If cooling and heating in the public space of a building are controlled based on the supply of electricity from wind and sun, the surplus electricity is put to good use. This is just as important as investing in solar panels themselves. Why do people nowadays supply a row of houses with solar panels when there is no central battery to collect the superfluous electricity in the street?
Transportation
Which brings me back to the fourth variable: transportation. As long as there are reports that the networks can't handle it, it doesn't just mean we need to invest more in those networks. On the contrary, it means we need to invest more in storage and variable consumption as well. Sustainability goes further than just solar panels.
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This Dutch version of the column was previously published on the website of the knowledge and information platform for technical real estate professionals, OG Wijzer.
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media & Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, +31 6 53 641 846.