dena Grid Study III

The aim was to further develop the planning processes so that they are able to fulfil the requirements of the climate-neutral energy system of the future.

Our energy networks for electricity, gas, hydrogen and, at a local level, heat, bring energy supply and demand together. They are therefore a crucial element for a functioning sustainable energy system. The grids must be expanded and converted in order to fulfil the new transport tasks in the climate-neutral energy system of the future.

Planning for the further development of the transport grids has been carried out in the electricity and gas grid development plan processes since 2012. However, planning the various grids in independent processes is no longer appropriate due to the increasing coupling of sectors and the phasing-out of fossil fuels. This is because a network for the various energy sources in line with demand can only be planned if the development requirements are coordinated in such a way that future transport tasks can be fulfilled efficiently.
Grid Study III, developed by dena, answers the central questions of how planning can be put on a common foundation and geared towards climate neutrality and how all stakeholders and society can be involved at an early stage.

Through close dialogue with representatives of politics, science, industry and society, dena investigated how energy infrastructure planning can be optimised from the perspective of an integrated energy transition. The core result of this dialogue was the recommendation to introduce a system development plan, which precedes the current processes and places them on a common foundation. A system development plan of this type should not only help determine common anchors for further planning, but can also ensure greater transparency and participation in grid planning by being drawn up in a participatory process and lessen the effort for subsequent planning steps. A process for system development planning also provides a system development strategy that shows how the overall system can develop efficiently, taking future infrastructure requirements into account.

The effect:

The findings of Grid Study III stakeholder group on how integrated planning of our energy infrastructures can succeed have provided important impetus for the further development of current processes.

The key results of the exchange are summarised in the concluding report for Grid Study III. The report shows:

• how infrastructure planning works today and where our infrastructure planning processes need to evolve,
• how a system development plan and a participatory development process can be organised,
• how the results of the system development plan are legitimised properly,
• how innovations can be better taken into account during planning,
• how integrated planning can also be promoted at the distribution grid level and
• what influence the market design will have on future demand.