Efficient long-term planning of the heating transition depends on the price of hydrogen and other uncertainties as well as heterogeneity in buildings and settlements. The development of an infrastructure for heating with hydrogen appears risky, as it would only be worthwhile if hydrogen prices and grid costs are low in the future. Instead, heat pumps, especially large heat pumps in conjunction with heating grids, are more likely to be a cost-efficient option in the future.
At the first event of the Strommarkttreffen at the University of Cologne on January 26, 2024, Michael Moritz, Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI), presented current research on the topic of target technologies for the heat transition. The event on sector coupling was moderated and organized by Jun.-Prof. Dr. Oliver Ruhnau, Research Scientist at the EWI.
Other contributions to the event on the topic of the heating transition came from Alexander Roth, DIW, on “Flexible heat pumps: effects on the electricity sector” and David Kröger, Institute for Energy Systems, Energy Efficiency and Energy Economics, TU Dortmund University, on “Flexible heating systems for congestion management” and Frederic Schick, EINHUNDERT, on “Integration of flexible consumers in multi-family houses”.
On the electricity sector, grids, and electromobility, Theresa Steinfort, Frontier Economics, spoke on the “Use of H2 in the electricity sector”, Peter Lopion, Amprion, on “Flexibility in the transmission grid and the necessary market design”, Christopher Hecht, RWTH ISEA, on “Germany’s largest battery – how we can achieve the energy transition through electromobility” and David Kemnitz, Consentec, on “Effects of sector coupling on electricity distribution grids”.
The Strommarkttreffen is an open network of several thousand experts from the energy sector, including science, politics, business, and associations. As part of the monthly series of events, energy industry research on modeling issues, energy policy, and electricity market design is discussed.
