MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - According to a study, there is largely untapped potential in German households to mitigate one of the pitfalls of the energy transition. Private households could already shift up to 15.6 terawatt hours of electricity consumption, according to calculations by electricity supplier Eon and the Research Center for Energy Economics (FfE). By 2030, this flexibility potential could almost double to 30.9 terawatt hours. According to the calculations, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and Rhineland-Palatinate have the greatest potential in this regard.
Washing, rinsing, and drying at night
The study was prompted by the problem that wind and solar power generation depends on the weather and the time of day, but electricity consumption is highest in the morning and in the late afternoon and early evening. Flexible electricity consumption means shifting consumption to times of day when demand is low, such as late evening or night. In the study, this refers to two things: the electricity consumption of electric cars, home storage systems, and heat pumps, as well as the three types of household appliances with the highest electricity consumption—washing machines, dishwashers, and clothes dryers.
"With flexibility, we are able to shift energy consumption to times when energy is either cheaper or when we have enough renewables in the system," said Filip Thon, CEO of Eon Energie Deutschland. According to Thon, the current potential of 15.6 terawatt hours is roughly equivalent to the combined electricity consumption of two large cities such as Munich and Warsaw.
Electric cars and energy transition technology increase "flexibility potential"
According to the study, there are 40.4 million washing machines, 32.6 million dishwashers, and 22.1 million clothes dryers in German households. The authors estimate that this number will not change significantly by 2030. The expected near doubling of "flex potential" by 2030 is based on the assumption that the spread of electric cars and energy transition technology in households will increase significantly in the coming years. For 2030, the authors assume that there will be around 3.6 million heat pumps, just under 5.9 million electric cars, and 4.7 million home storage systems installed.
According to the study, flexible electricity tariffs that vary depending on the time of day would be useful so that energy is more expensive during hours of high electricity consumption than during times of low consumption, thereby ensuring that citizens also benefit financially from adjusting their electricity consumption habits. However, a key prerequisite for this would be the widespread use of digital electricity meters ("smart meters"), which has so far been slow to take off in Germany. In an accompanying Yougov survey of 3,600 consumers, more than two-thirds said they would be willing to shift higher electricity consumption to other times of the day if they could benefit financially from doing so. /cho/DP/stw
