Structure of the E-energy incentive programme
At the federal level, E-energy was launched as a major incentive programme with the aim of optimising the power supply for the future. Several model projects studied the core question of how the latest information and communications technology can be used to intelligently control the balance between supply and demand. Only by efficient and timely control is it possible to make better use of the grid and to employ temporarily available, volatile energies such as wind and solar energy in a practical and economic way. Attempts to use these technologies successfully rely on the safety and climatic compatibility of the entire power supply in Germany.
For that reason, projects in six large model regions will explore new control and storage options, with decentralised energy-generation units being connected and controlled interactively in the grid.
Mannheim model project: The challenges of the future to establish an environmentally-friendly energy supply arise from the ever-increasing portion of the supply coming from electrical energy from renewable sources and call for modification of the network infrastructure. New ways of controlling the network need to demonstrate how the grid of the future will transport large amounts of centralised and decentralised power from renewable sources, as well as storing it because of the fluctuating demand for renewable energy.
