Round-up: Gas plays important role in energy future
Gas is set to play an increasingly important role in the future energy system whether as natural gas, biogas or hydrogen and other gases from the power to gas process, writes Jonathan Spencer Jones, content analyst at Engerati, the sister portal to Metering & Smart Energy International.
Across the world, activities are ramping up to join the wave of these developments and to integrate these new clean, renewable and storable supplies into the energy mix, Andre Wankelmuth, director of Strategic Market Development for Gas Worldwide at Itron, told Engerati.
From the utility perspective, the growing role of gas is leading to a convergence of electricity and gas grids, smart gas metering business cases are turning positive and a gas Internet of Things is taking shape. [Gas Entering A Golden Age]
Energy storage
While large energy storage projects have tended to dominate the news, the residential storage market has also been gaining serious momentum as a result of new business models and easing strategies and falling costs. [All Aboard The (Residential) Energy Storage Train!]
Coupled with rooftop PV consumers are able to maximize use of their generation and even participate in demand response activities. With this has also come a host of new entrants, the latest ABB with its REACT system.
During European Utility Week, Engerati was invited by Siemens to visit Vienna’s smart city energy testbed in the outskirts at Aspern Seestadt.
In a five-year €38.3 million initiative, combinations of generation, heating and storage technologies are being tested with different types of users in three buildings – with a potential fourth in the offing – and monitoring has been installed on the LV grid. The findings should feed into the 2050 strategy to smarten Vienna. [Aspern Seestadt – Vienna’s Smart City Energy Testbed]
