The Smarter E Europe 2022
Phenomenal Exhibition Success in Munich. Three triumphant exhibition days and two days full of inspiring conference sessions marked a real success for Europe’s largest platform for the energy industry: 1,356 exhibitors from 46 countries presenting their solutions in 12 Halls on 132,000 square meters on the fairgrounds of Messe Muenchen.
Pioneering and forward-thinking solutions for a sustainable and secure energy supply have become more important than ever. Climate protection targets, soaring prices for fossil energy sources and current geopolitical developments have been accelerating the rate at which the energy transition is unfolding. The smarter E Europe presented the technologies, solutions and business models of a new energy world fully rooted in renewable energies.
Image used courtesy of Bodo’s Power Systems
More than 65,000 visitors from 149 countries exceeded expectations for this year’s The smarter E Europe – an increase of 33 percent compared to the last regular event in 2019. They experienced exciting and informative days on the topics of solar energy, energy storage, digital grids and electromobility at the innovation platform The smarter E Europe and deepened their knowledge in the accompanying specialist conferences.
In view of the incessant and continuous progress in development, the expert found, as expected, no real “sensations” at the trade fair aggregate. However, one realization ran like a red thread through the 12 halls: The various solutions and components for a renewable energy supply are growing together more and more. But almost all of these multifaceted strands are becoming more powerful, more efficient, as far as possible easier to install and handle, and more flexible to use.
Moreover, as in the entire technology sector, the use of artificial intelligence is becoming almost a matter of course – be it for optimizing the electricity yield from one’s own roof, the intelligent use of electricity from more favorable time slots in the supply of utilities, grid stabilization through the latest generation of more and more extendable modular inverters and battery storage systems or the time-delayed solar charging of electric vehicles.
Paving the Way for the Future Now
The four energy exhibitions, accompanied by four specialist conferences and four exhibition forums, presented cross-sector and cross-industry products, solutions and business models of the new energy world and demonstrated that we have everything we need.
At the booths, the unanimous opinion was that “it’s not just an energy transition, it’s an industry transition.” The current political situation will accelerate the transition process, so we urgently need to pick up the pace and invest in all parts of the value chains. PV solutions have been used successfully for two decades, the storage sector has been expanding for the past ten years, and we are seeing a boom in charging infrastructure and electromobility. Innovative ideas and technologies to meet this demand exist and were presented to great success in Munich.
The four exhibitions, conferences and forums shared one vision: an intelligent, sustainable and integrated energy mix consisting entirely of renewables available 24/7, all year round. This puts the spotlight on renewable energies, decentralization and digitalization of the energy industry as well as cross-sector solutions from the electricity, heat and transport sectors. Renewable energies and interconnected energy systems are closely linked to the goal of climate neutrality and security of supply, a parameter that needs to be reassessed.
Think Tanks
The future supply of electricity and heat from renewable sources relies on the different sectors of the energy system being intelligently intertwined – from energy generation and storage to distribution and use. And start-ups across the energy sectors are part of the push to unlock the key to that level of collaboration – digitalization.
Image used courtesy of Bodo’s Power Systems
The international EM-Power Europe exhibition presented plenty of exciting insights into new technologies and concepts. Experienced stakeholders stood beside start-ups and young companies focusing on the new energy world in Munich to showcase their more or less revolutionary approaches to solutions and technologies for smart energy management and integrated energy solutions. The range of offers extended for instance “heating cost savings with digital meter reading systems” and “SaaS for a decentralized energy supply” to “data hub measurement data networking” or “grid tracking with digital solutions”.
The smarter E Award 2022
The international panel of experts judged the nominees for The smarter E Award 2022 and picked out exceptional ideas for the future supply of power and heat as worthy winners in the Outstanding Projects category of this innovation prize for the energy industry. They are all exemplary future-oriented and unique initiatives. The Smart Renewable Energy category celebrates sector coupling solutions as well as smart management tools for energy systems.
Image used courtesy of Bodo’s Power Systems
The grid booster battery energy storage system (BESS) Grid Scale from Fluence Energy, a container-based stationary storage system from Fenecon and the SirriS solar-powered irrigation system from the Center for Renewable Energy Services Limited have been named as the winners in the Outstanding Projects category at The smarter E AWARD 2022.
Within the Smart Renewable Energy category, Fluence Energy wowed the panel of judges with its Fluence IQ software platform.
The Fronius International Wattpilot and the DA/RE initiative from TransnetBW were also rewarded. The smarter E AWARD was presented at a ceremony along with two other prizes for innovation, the Intersolar AWARD and the ees AWARD.
Image used courtesy of Bodo’s Power Systems
Steel from Solar Energy – Study on Green Hydrogen
As part of The smarter E Europe 2022, the Green Hydrogen Forum & Expo featured nternational experts who spoke at the forum on political framework conditions, the international markets, the required infrastructure, technology innovations, cost-saving potential and hydrogen lighthouse projects.
Image used courtesy of Bodo’s Power Systems
Amongst the green hydrogen focus topics was a study on solar steel production, presented by Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of Hydrogen Europe. The aim of the study is to show the conditions under which steel can be produced economically from iron ore using hydrogen from renewable energy sources. Produced in a climate-friendly way and without fossil fuels, green hydrogen is versatile and is considered an important component of the EU Green Deal in order to achieve climate neutrality.
Despite the economic challenges, the steel industry and energy suppliers have recognized the signs of the times. Several projects in Europe aim to introduce the necessary technology and make “green steel” economically viable. The above-mentioned study launched at The smarter E Europe makes it clear that rethinking the steel industry is not only sensible but downright necessary. Some 2.6 million jobs have to be sustained in the long term through the increased use of green hydrogen.
Energiewende Award 2022: Growing Small-scale PV Market Strengthens Electric Mobility Expansion
The markets for small-scale photovoltaic systems and electric cars are growing quickly. A recent EUPD Research analysis reveals how the acquisition of a solar system can foster the purchase of an e-car. The more a household engages with PV systems, the more important the investment in an own charging station for e-cars becomes. This is the result of an analysis in the context of this year’s Energiewende Award for energy suppliers.
The next The smarter E Europe (EM-Power Europe and the parallel events Intersolar Europe, ees Europe and Power2Drive Europe) are scheduled to take place from June 14–16, 2023, again at Messe München.
This article originally appeared in Bodo’s Power Systems magazine.
