Q+A with Uwe Scharf: The Energy Transition

According to a study by DNV, Europe is acting as the driving force behind the energy transition, and renewables are being established and expanded at a faster rate due to the energy crisis.

Uwe Scharf, Managing Director of Business Units at Rittal, puts it like this: “The energy transition is taking place in an overall context that, on the whole, has never been more complex or dynamic. This also means that a challenge on this scale almost always offers one-time opportunities to reposition yourself.”

The overarching trend is one of increasing electrification. Energy needs to be generated, stored, converted, distributed, and made available for consumption. It’s a colossal market where the corresponding infrastructure needs to be built up. Another aspect covers the rising demands on the grids and the energy infrastructure as a whole.

What specifically is changing regarding the grids?

Scharf: The pace of energy grid expansion is going to pick up massively in order to keep pace with increasing demand. Moving from coal, gas and oil to electricity from renewables, is going to put a huge strain on the grid and considerably increase complexity in the system. After all, the present grid, which has been designed to distribute energy that is generated centrally, is becoming a complex network of numerous decentralised elements.

Secondly, requirements regarding the transparency, flexibility and intelligence of the whole energy infrastructure will grow, and there must be a (digitally assisted) means of monitoring and controlling these.

Thirdly, there is the way the various elements in the energy system interact with each other, which is known as ‘sector coupling.’ For example, take the idea of using car batteries as mobile storage devices and having electricity flow in both directions. Another example would be ‘power-to-gas’ processes, during which wind and solar power is converted into hydrogen and methane.

One thing is becoming very clear – when it comes to energy, we know that nothing is going to stay the same.

How is this upheaval impacting industrial companies?

Scharf: In addition to delivery bottlenecks, the skills shortage and the recent volatility on the markets, companies also must treat energy as a success-critical and therefore business-critical and strategically important parameter. They need to deal with the availability of energy as a scarce resource and put in place smart energy management that moves energy-intensive production processes to times when energy is less expensive. It’s important to start by asking the questions that really matter. For instance, how will the energy transition impact my own organisation, my products and processes, my business strategy and my customers?

How can this new complexity be managed?

Scharf: Based on the experience Rittal and Eplan have built up with customers in the panel building, switchgear and mechanical engineering sectors, we can say that optimising and industrialising process chains offers very considerable potential for operational efficiency.

Optimisation is only possible through systematic standardisation in all areas, and that is what we work on with our customers and partners. Integrated hardware and software solutions ramp up the pace of infrastructure expansion – from energy generation and storage through grid expansion and sector coupling, right up to the charging centre for electric vehicles. We are starting out in a lot of these areas, as a team comprising Eplan, Rittal and GEC.

From our point of view, the basic principle is to think, automate and digitalise along our customers’ processes – to combine hardware and software and then create transparency. This approach will help reconfigure even complex systems more quickly and get them geared up for the future.

Rigorous digitalisation is viewed as the crux of the energy transition. Why is that?

Scharf: Because it reduces complexity. At Rittal and Eplan, we’ve been working closely with customers from right across the energy sector for many years. Digital data models are being created in all areas.

Nonetheless, there are very few cases where digital continuity has truly been established from engineering through to construction and operation. The challenges involved in the energy transition are too multi-layered. What we need are consistent, networked and smart data models for establishing and running energy infrastructure, data centres, production machinery and plants, and for building technology.

It makes sense that the sector coupling mentioned earlier can only work with ecosystems that have put in place data continuity. In this case, too, if you put a digital twin at the heart of everything, then you have the DNA – the central data hub – and therefore all the relevant information for a plant or system, which can be used in downstream processes from production through to operation. Ultimately, plant operators also benefit from that in terms of maintenance and networking.

“Thinking, automating and digitalising along our customers’ processes – that is the basic principle we have adopted.”

- Uwe Scharf, Managing Director of Business Units at Rittal