Renewable energy sources to secure the base load in electricity supply. Summary

The share of renewable energies in Germany's electricity supply has been increasing at an impressive rate in recent years: it already amounts to over 20 %, about half of which comes from fluctuating sources - mainly wind power and photovoltaics. In the long term (by 2050), the goal is to achieve almost full supply with renewable energies. This makes it clear that the system of electricity supply will be subject to an upheaval of historic proportions in the coming decades.
The TAB report addresses the question of how the base load in the electricity supply can continue to be secured under these conditions. This question can only be addressed in a system perspective that encompasses all levels: from generation to transport and distribution to the consumption of electricity. Therefore, the question expands to how a secure supply can be organised as a whole.
It is becoming apparent that the electricity system must be able to react much more flexibly than before to different feed-in and demand situations.
Options for increasing flexibility exist in many areas:
> Increasing the efficiency of the grids
> Increasing the flexibility of the conventional power plant fleet and its mode of operation
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> Greater orientation of electricity production from renewable energies to demand
> load management, and not least the construction of additional storage facilities.
In all of these fields of action, the TAB report identifies options for action in which the public sector and the energy policy actors in the executive and legislative branches can contribute to the success of the upcoming transformation of the electricity supply by shaping the framework conditions.