From 7 to 9 May, the Berlin Energy Days 2018 were dedicated to the topic of energy and its various forms. At the annual major conference, the energy transition in Germany was examined from different perspectives in seven different thematic blocks. Over 300 speakers had their say in a total of 57 individual presentations, group and panel discussions and workshops, documenting their experiences, perspectives and proposed solutions on topics such as “Energy and climate policy”, “Adjusting the energy transition” and “The heating and cooling transition in energy industry practice”.
The conference was accompanied by the “Energie-Impulse 2018” trade fair, where various exhibitors presented their products, services and projects to a broad specialist audience.
Of particular interest to Julia Haselberger and Clemens Brauer (aconium) were the discussions on the topic of “Distribution grids and charging infrastructure for electromobility” in the “Sector coupling, grids, mobility” thematic block. Around 100,000 electric vehicles are currently registered in Germany, which corresponds to a share of 1.6 percent. One of the biggest challenges facing electromobility in Germany is the currently inadequate charging infrastructure for vehicles, which needs to be overcome if electromobility is to be successful.
Experiences from the Netherlands show how other countries are moving towards electromobility. Simone Maase from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences reported that there are public charging stations for electric vehicles every 200 meters in Amsterdam. Despite a large number of providers, the Netherlands follows what is known as the interoperability model, whereby the same access card can be used to “fill up” at any charging station. In contrast, there are various unconnected access models, cards and tariffs in Germany.
There is currently a lack of charging options in public spaces – the installation of charging stations in inner-city areas in particular is proving to be a challenge due to space problems and competition for space – and a lack of private charging points. The latter is primarily due to the fact that many legal issues need to be clarified before a charging point can be installed, especially in apartment buildings. The development of charging infrastructure in public spaces is currently being funded by the German government with 300 million euros; 15,000 charging points are to be available throughout Germany by 2020.
Photo:Impression of the Berlin Energy Days, 07.05.-09.05.2018.
Photo credit: Energietage/Rolf Schulten.