Last Friday WIND-projekt welcomed again high-ranking guests in Grapzow. The Flemish Minister of Energy, Bart Tommelein, visited with a delegation the existing energy storage facility and associated wind farm. Furthermore, the directors of the 50 Hertz GmbH Boris Schucht and Dr. Frank Golletz, as well as Dr. Patrick Graichen (AGORA Energiewende) were present. Belgium would like to expand its wind energy generation and for this reason the transmission network operator 50 Hertz organized such a visit in Germany. The Minister was able to gain an actual overview of the state of the storage technologies in the renewable energies sector and discuss in personal talks with the CEO Carlo Schmidt and other experts about future and necessary steps on the way to the implementation of the energy targets. As a special feature of the day, WIND-projekt organized an ascent of an Enercon E-126 for the guests and they were able to convince themselves directly of the productivity and the enormous dimensions of today’s existing wind turbine generators.

WIND-projekt is again confirmed by this visit in their activities and will continue to promote the expansion of renewable energies and regenerative storage technologies.

On 20 th and 21 st March 2017 the Federal Government organized the third international energy transition conference in cooperation with the Federal Assoctiation for Renewable Energy, the Federal Solar Energy Association, the consulting company eclareon and the German Energy Agency (dena). Numerous international ministers, high-ranking delegations, business and industry representatives from more than 93 countries attended the meeting and discussed about current developments and innovations of the energy policy, as well as new investment opportunities and business models, in order to achieve the objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Sustainability Goals of Agenda 2030 in a cost-effective manner.

As a marginal program of this event, numerous excursions to showcase projects in Germany were organized this year too.

Today WIND-project received in Grapzow the deputy energy minister of South Africa and the Moroccan Secretary of State of the Ministry of Energy accompanied by representatives of the transmission network operator 50 Hertz. Guests were informed about the state of the art of the existing wind turbines at the bottom of a wind turbine. In addition, the guests were able to get an overview of the existing energy storage site and they discussed with the project engineers about future goals and necessities of energy storage. The delegation was very interested in the projects which are already implemented by WIND-project GmbH and welcomed the enthusiasm for innovation in the sector of regenerative storage technologies.

As part of the ongoing cooperation with universities, especially from M-V, WIND-project welcomed two visiting groups from Wismar and Neubrandenburg at the energy storage facility in Grapzow. The students were practical informed about the energy transition by showing a wind turbine of the manufacturer Enercon with an output of 7.500 kW and also by showing an energy storage system to store fluctuating wind power in the form of hydrogen. Technical questions of the existing turbines and energy storage system were answered as well as landscape planning issues concerning the project.

WIND-project is always very pleased with the existing interest of young people in climate-friendly technologies for energy generation and energy storage and will continue to push ahead the cooperation with the universities.

In the course of the cooperation with the University of Rostock in the project RH2-PTG, WIND-projekt today greeted a group of experts from the University of Rostock and their guests - representatives of the operator of the national Bhutanese water power plants – to discuss the energy supply and the grid stability in the Himalaya kingdom. Run-of-river power plants are the major energy source in Bhutan. The guests were very interested in the energy storage technology and in the direct integration of the wind turbines into the system. The topic grid stability in a changing energy system concerns Germany as well as Bhutan. Both countries need innovative projects to ensure the energy supply of the future, the participants agreed. The planned expansion of the energy storage system to a self-contained start power plant based on 100% renewable energy aroused particular interest. The representatives of WIND-projekt also enjoyed the professional discussion and look forward to further joined meetings.

In the course of a trip to Europe, a delegation of 25 energy experts from India arrived in Grapzow today. The delegation consists of Indian energy industry managers, whose companies are organized in the „Northern Regional Power Committee of India (NRPC)“.
The NRPC unites state authorities as well as grid operators and federal energy companies. The trip takes place in the course of the so called „Capacity Building Programs on the Integration of Renewable Energy Resources (RES) into the Grid for Power Utilities operating in Northern Region”.
The interest focuses on the need and the possibility to integrate larger volumes of fluctuating renewable energies into an existing energy system. The storage activities in Grapzow and their expansion within the RH2-PTG project have aroused the interest of the Indian professionals. For WIND-project, this is further proof of the positive international feedback for the innovational tasks in the fields of net integration, system security and storage, which are
tackled at the technology site Grapzow.

In its last meeting in 2015, the commune of Tützpatz has concluded a specific roadmap for a cooperation in the RH2-PTG project, which includes a step to the operation of wind turbines. This was planned from the beginning and has now been substantiated. The commune, which had founded a working group “wind energy”, has been supported by the Städte- und Gemeindetag M-V (Association of Municipal Councils of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) and a specialized company from the region, so that a substantiated result could be achieved. In addition to the possible operation of wind turbines, a new electricity tariff for the households in Tützpatz was included. The decision of the municipal council was unanimously.

WIND-projekt reacted positive to the decision. „We are glad, that it was possible to reach a consensus” said a spokesman. With this, both municipalities, Tützpatz and Gültz, have shown, that there is a possibility for a compatible realization of the project, taking into account the municipal interests.

In the course of this year’s energy symposium at the technical college Stralsund, a group of more than twenty guests found its way to the energy storage facility in Grapzow. Grapzow was chosen for the “technology tour” to show the state of the newest developments in the fields of energy storage and hydrogen technology in Germany to the guest. Part of the group were, among others, guests from Thailand. The guests were enthusiastic about the results of the work so far and highly interested in the further development. The guests expressed their view, that the countries which are economically capable to do so, should develop technologies to deal with climate change all over the world. WIND-projekt supports the colleges in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern by giving young, prospective engineers an insight in the practical use of newest technologies and is delighted by the interested audience.

The city of Altentreptow has expressed its statement in the running permission process for the RH2-PTG project. Although, the approval of the municipalities is legally not required, the they were asked for a statement. Due to the fact, that the city of Altentreptow is not territorially affected, the city has now declared its neutrality, in particular to not influence the independent decisions of Gültz and Tützpatz. At the same time, the city has stated, that the expansion of the manufacturer settlement in the city and the retrofitting of the lighting in the wind farm Altentreptow-Ost would have positive effects for the city.

WIND-projekt explained, that it will continue its longstanding trusting cooperation with the city to find compatible solutions for the wind energy development.

At its current meeting, the municipal council of Gültz has approved the RH2-PTG project with a specific catalogue of measures. The catalogue contains rent incomes, a need-oriented lighting system to minimize the lighting of the wind turbines at night as well as a new, cheaper electricity tariff for the household over the entire operation time of the wind farm. In addition, measures for the manor house and park were set up to improve the current situation. Preceding the decision, long talks in the working group and the municipal council had taken place. In the light of the previous concerns regarding the historic preservation and the acceptance in general, this decision is without doubt a success for WIND-projekt.

With “This compromise is a solution, that meets the requirements of all parties. Especially the new electricity tariff shall make sure, that not only the commune but also the citizens will benefit directly from the project”, a WIND-projekt spokesman said.

Today, Greenpeace Energy presented a study which substantiates the importance of the power-to-gas technology (PTG-technology). The study explains, that gases, which are produced from electricity which itself is generated by wind turbines – so called “Windgas” – can have significant positive effects on the energy system in general and especially on the implementation of the Energiewende. With the use of PTG-technology, a 100% supply with renewable energies can be achieved and in the same time the costs for the Energiewende can be reduced by several billion Euros. According to the study, especially the direct use of hydrogen (in opposite to methanation) has a potential for high efficiency and low cost. The study demands more investments in this technology and framework conditions set by the politic which encourage said investments. WIND-projekt sees itself strengthened on its way and will endeavor to contribute its part to the further development of the PTG-technology.

Today, WIND-projekt received the Association of Freelance Architects Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Grapzow. The topics renewable energies and energy storage have grown in importance also in the construction sector. The architects seized the opportunity to inspect the energy storage facility as well as one of the E-126 wind turbines with a power of 7,000 kW. Residential and commercial buildings are more and more equipped with energy supply facilities with photovoltaic being the leading technology in this sector. In the view of this, the architects were especially interested in possibilities for the storage of fluctuating renewable energies and for the recuperation of electrical energy and heat from the storage.

Last Saturday WIND-projekt opened its energy storage system as well as one of the most powerful wind turbines as part of the nationwide “Day of renewable energy”. Many locals, but also visitors who had a longer journey took the opportunity to get to know the technology and to ask questions about energy storage and renewable energies. There discussions with the guests showed that the issues energy, energy transition and climate protection have becoming important topics and are lively discussed.
The visitors were impressed by the idea and implementation of the hydrogen storage system and showed interest in the further projects of WIND-projekt in the field of energy storage and the combination of various energy cycles. A hydrogen car, that was available for test driving represented another application of renewable energies. The car of the type Hyundai ix 35 Fuel Cell is the first serially produced fuel cell vehicle and can be operated with hydrogen which is directly recovered by wind power. The ability to compare fuel cell and ordinary internal combustion engine directly was happily accepted by the visitors.

In the conference of “Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue 2015 – towards a global energy transition” the Federal government is starting a dialogue with regard to the basic challenges of a sustainable energy supply. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Business secretary Sigmar Gabriel and Environment Secretary Barbara Hendricks discuss the German energy transition with politicians of foreign affairs and energy, industry representatives as well as social players from all over the world. The 2-day event with more than 900 delegates from more than 60 countries is to give new impulse for an international energy transition. On the edge of the conference, that had been taking place in Berlin since Thursday, several high-ranking international representatives with the support of transmission system operator 50 Hertz made a short trip to North Germany in order to visit some lighthouse projects. Besides the Bentwisch transformer station and the first off-shore wind farm in the Baltic Sea, Baltic 1, WIND-project was happy to receive the guests and the Ministry of Economy at our site in Grapzow. Among the guests were the Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Energy Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait as well as the Vice Energy Minister of the People’s Republic of China.

The guests were interested in the performance capacity of the wind turbines as well as in the innovative further development of renewable storage technologies. WIND-projekt Managing Director Carlo Schmidt was happy about the top-class visitors: “This is a special day for our business and for our plans. The interest of our guests in the state-of-affairs in the use of wind power as well as in the development of renewable storage technologies as we are establishing and expanding them here in the region, shows us that climate change and energy transition are by far not only German topics, but require joint efforts in all regions and worldwide. It also shows us to be on the right path in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and motivates us to further advance our plans. WE are very happy to be able to meet such high-quality guests here and with the support of 50Hertz with whom we are working together closely as in the framework of the RH2-PTG project.”

The problems of the energy transition and renewable energies concern all ages and are especially important for the young generation. Therefore, last-year students from Altentreptow could inform themselves about the fields of wind power and energy storage in Grapzow also in this year. The students appeared to be very interested with their questions not only concerning the local activities. Today’s visit in the energy storage plant as well as at a wind power plant nearby clearly showed that the school-leavers are also concerned with the wider context of environmentally friendly power generation and distribution up to the security of the power supply. WIND-projekt considers this generation to be that part of the population most affected by the climate change and at the same time a crucial factor for the success of the energy transition. WIND-projekt wishes all future school-leavers lots of success in their upcoming examinations.

The cooperation between the energy industry, research and teaching is to be further developed at the site of the energy storage plant in Grapzow. After several universities already visiting the plant in Grapzow over the past operation time, now the course is to be set for an advanced cooperation with the University of Rostock. Corresponding agreements were made. The focus will be on system-relevant problems like the increasing contribution of wind farms to power supply security, but also on new technologies for efficient and safe energy storage. According to plans of Rostock University, also the University of Erlangen is supposed to be involved in the work. WIND-projekt is heartily welcoming this step of the universities, seeing the overall high interest in climate protection technologies “made in M-V” confirmed.

In the framework of the cooperation with universities and colleges especially in M-V, WIND-projekt met future engineers from the Universities of Applied Sciences in Wismar and Neubrandenburg at their energy storage plant in Grapzow this week. The visit focussed on different topics as for instance measurement and control technology, but also on changes in land use. The university guests explained their opinion of renewable energies being an important part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the special focus given to this topic in the framework of research and teaching. WIND-projekt welcomes this development and will support the universities in their activities, further intensifying their efforts towards closer cooperation.

Yesterday WIND-projekt was happy to meet another European delegation at the site of their energy storage plant near Altentreptow. This time the guests were energy experts from Poland who wanted to get informed about the state of affairs of the development of renewable energies and the corresponding technologies. Besides the Federal centre for Renewable Energies in Neustrelitz (Landeszentrum für Erneuerbare Energien) the delegation visited the energy storage plant in Altentreptow. The experts confirmed the importance of further developments in the field of the combination of different energy systems on the basis of green energy in order to gain more energy independence from imports. This point was allocated a growing importance by the debates surrounding the crisis in the Ukraine and the energy imports from Russia in this context. WIND-projekt was happy about the high-quality guests and feels vindicated in their way to consequently further develop the location of sites within the framework of RH2-PTG.