Hydrogen in the gas grid
Did you know that wind turbines and solar power plants have to be shut down time and again when too much electricity is produced at the same time? Researchers are working on a way to convert the energy generated from wind and sun into hydrogen. Gases like hydrogen can be stored and transported more easily. In Öhringen, a town situated in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg, Netze BW is conducting a field trial to explore how much hydrogen can be transported in the existing natural gas grid. The recently inaugurated 28-kilometer Neckar–Enztal Valley pipeline owned by terranets bw as an independent transmission grid operator is made of hydrogen-grade steel and can even transport 100% hydrogen.
How the “Netzbooster” bolsters the electricity grid and keeps it stable
As an independent transmission grid operator, the EnBW subsidiary TransnetBW is planning one of the world’s largest battery storage systems in Baden-Württemberg. In conjunction with the leading supplier of energy storage products, Fluence Energy GmbH, the future “Netzbooster” (or “grid booster”) is set to achieve what no one has previously dared to do: Make better use of the power lines without compromising grid security. This may sound somewhat terse. But it can send technicians into raptures.
An alarm button on the wrist
The item on the wrist may look like a simple watch, but the app on it is so much more: contact to the base station, alarm button and, if necessary, a kind of life insurance. EnBW employees have developed the NeWa app (Netze Watch app) for colleagues who scale electricity pylons or sometimes do other risky jobs alone and in remote areas. In the event of an accident – when the NeWa app registers a fall, for instance – it raises the alarm.