Siemens and German energy supplier Allgäuer Überlandwerk (AUW) have formed a new joint venture named egrid to offer services for smart grid expansion.
The joint venture will focus on commercial implementation of the results from IRENE and IREN2, the two smart grid research projects in Wildpoldsried, Germany.
Siemens Energy Management Division Power Technologies International (PTI) Business Segment head Michael Schneider said that the results of the two research projects had exceeded the expectations by a long way.
Schneider added: "I am very pleased about this, and it is an ideal starting point for our new joint venture. Other grid operators will now be able to profit from our distributed infeed and storage solutions.
“It's from real-life practice and for real-life practice. Together with Allgäuer Überlandwerk, we are thus actively supporting the transition to a new energy mix."
As per the agreement, Siemens would buy a 49% stake in egrid applications & consulting, an AUW subsidiary, for an undisclosed price. The deal would have to get approvals from competent competition bodies.
The joint venture will focus on offering consulting services for distribution grid operators besides carrying on in refining existing proposals. It will mainly focus on the integration of large capacities delivered by distributed generation facilities and intelligent control of the distributed grid.
Allgäuer Überlandwerk managing director Michael Lucke said: "The results from the Wildpoldsried project and other egrid customers have shown that the power grid has much larger reserves than previously thought. This finding and the knowledge of why this is true form the basis for our joint venture with Siemens."
Located in the Allgäu region, the research projects have formed a basis not only for the formation of the joint venture but also for a future renewable energy system.
Image: Siemens and AUW form JV based on their research projects in Wildpoldsried. Photo: courtesy of Siemens AG.