With the right mix of planned power supplies and weather-dependent power sources, stability, flexibility, and energy storage will be the keys to renewable energy success. Professor Jan Blomgren is a professor of Applied Nuclear Physics and the author of Sweden’s electrical distribution in 2021. He states fossil fuels accounted for 87% of the world’s primary energy in 2005. In 2020, 89% of the world’s power will be generated from fossil fuels. And total energy consumption increased by 20% during the same period. The data indicates that we will not consume less energy but increase energy usage. In Sweden, we grow delicious strawberries, and to meet the growing demand, we have to intensify production by operating in larger fields.
But should the ever-increasing fields be located near the center and be massive in scale, or do we want to have our local strawberry field? The same questions can be applied to renewable energy. Energy production is viewed as a distributed concept according to opinions and trends. But what will the most appropriate balance be? Will it be the same for distributed energy production? Sweden’s energy transition is ongoing. Electrifying everything will lead to a reduction in total energy demand because of increased efficiency.
Utilizing the electric power grid is the most efficient energy transfer method. To increase its capacity and to be able to move more energy, vast investments need to be made. We will expand from our current national energy consumption of 140 TWh to 310 TWh by 2045. According to Lennart Söder, we require 27 GW on a freezing winter day in Sweden. To increase capacity, we need estimated annual growth of 7.7 TWh of energy and 1 GW of power to make this real.
Hydro, nuclear, wind, hydrogen, batteries, intelligent systems, and flexibility are needed. As engineers, we are responsible for making it robust and sustainable, so energy, e-mobility, and renewable energy distribution are priorities at Knightec.