The local trial in GermanyFor 100% renewable and regional energy
Location:
Wunsiedel, Germany

Main objective:
The Wunsiedel area together with its main utility company SWW Wunsiedel GmbH have set themselves the joint goal of fully meeting the energy needs of both residential and commercial customers with 100% renewable and regionally produced energy.

Contact:
Markus Hausmann
SWW Wunsiedel, Technical Director



http://www.s-w-w.com/

Wunsiedel belongs to the Upper Franconian district in northeast Bavaria, Germany. For years, SWW and its subordinated service companies have been focusing on the consistent production, use and expansion of renewable energy and sustainable technologies. SWW supplies about 20,000 people in the region with electricity, heat, water, gas, and communication services.

For the future, the city of Wunsiedel and the SWW envision a decentralised energy system with energy self-sufficiency for the region as well as a decoupling from the national and international energy market. The roadmap to this vision is described in the "Wunsiedler Weg 2.0".

For this future energy system to become a reality, new business models using e.g. dynamic pricing schemes are needed in order to motivate prosumers and flexible consumers to make their flexibilities available to the SWW. By making these existing energy flexibilities usable, SWW aims a reducing the costs arising from inaccurate forecasts or energy generation and consumption as well as the investments needed to upgrade the distribution grid.


At the demonstration site in Wunsiedel, the GOFLEX team aims at involving at least 50 residential prosumers, 25 residential flexible consumers and 2 commercial customers in testing the GOFLEX solution. Each of the participants will receive intelligent measuring equipment for energy, which will be combined with local data storage, analysis and control units to enable automated trading of both energy and flexibility.

GOFLEX in Wunsiedel is first and foremost a regionally-oriented initiative the aim of which is to develop and trial new products and services focused on customer needs and expectations. For that purpose, the GOFLEX team in Wunsiedel plans to actively involve consumers throughout the project, starting with a participative process (Design Thinking) to co-develop new products and services. 

Communication among energy producers, consumers and storages is the platform to manage fluctuating loads and demand on field level © SWW Wunsiedel GmbH

In Wunsiedel, the main long-term goal for being part of GOFLEX is to enable an energy supply from 100 % renewable and regional energy sources. SWW as regional multi-service provider and Distribution System Operator will therefore use the framework of the GOFLEX project to build the infrastructure to implement a regional market for energy and flexibility.

» We take the next step towards a 100% self-supply with regional and green energy for Wunsiedel. «
Dipl.-Ing. Marco Krasser, CEO SWW Wunsiedel
Interviewwith Dipl.-Ing. Marco Krasser, CEO SWW Wunsiedel
Marco Krasser, CEO of SWW Wunsiedel, is a longtime frontrunner of the integration of renewables for a sustainable energy supply on the municipality level.

 
 
 
 
 
 

What is the special focus of the GOFLEX demonstration site in Wunsiedel?

SWW will analyse the capabilities of the (future) GOFLEX solutions to operate the existing energy generating and distribution system based on renewable sources. The solutions need to be reliable in operation, expendable for future challenges and - most of all – affordable and financially worthwhile for our customers – both regular consumers as well as prosumers, who operate their own generation and/or storage units. We take the next step towards a 100% self-supply with regional and green energy for Wunsiedel.

What are the long-term benefits you expect from being part in the GOFLEX project?

We at SWW expect to gain deep insights into revolutionary future business models for our own company and all of our customers. We also hope to gain an ‘early bird’ overview of the coming challenges and solutions, so that we will be able to make the choices that will enable us to reach our strategic goals regarding both our customers and the municipality. Last but not least, we are laying the foundation for a regional marketplace where our customers will be able to trade both energy as well as flexibility.