Whether we turn on the coffee maker in the afternoon or switch on the light in the bathroom in the middle of the night – in a modern world, electricity is available at any time. What has become a matter of course for consumers, is a tall obligation for RWE. Hence, our engineers are also dealing in depth, among other subjects, with the storage of energy in order to make it available to customers at exactly the times they need it. 

Taking on challenges 

Storage is gaining in importance thanks to the expansion of power generation from renewables. This is because, in this case, it is the sun, wind and water that determine how much electricity is produced. These irregularities, in turn, have an impact on grid operations. If little wind energy is fed in, for example,  conventional power plants must make extra electricity available. Conversely, they have to throttle their output or even be switched off if strong wind generates a lot of electricity. On top of this comes the fact that the capacity of some of the regional transmission grids existing today meets its limits when the windmills spin vigorously. 

Finding new ways 

Pumped-storage or compressed-air energy storage plants are applicable to counteract these problems. They provide relief for grid operations. These power stations can store excess energy even in large amounts to supply electricity at peak-load times. Whereas the potential of pumped-storage power plants is geographically limited and largely exhausted in Germany, new ways are opening up thanks to innovative technologies. RWE, for example, did participate in an EU project dealing with a new form of compressed-air energy storage plant that achieves previously unattained efficiency. The technical feasibility of an advanced compressed air energy storage has been proven in the European Project thus RWE is engaged to further develop this promising new technology.