The aim of the study is the development of scenarios of the energy landscape 2050, which serve as a basis for long-term asset management and strategic network structure planning.

The methodical procedure is divided into three steps. First, the future changes in the energy landscape are analyzed. In addition to technical developments, political and social developments are considered and their influence on the energy landscape derived. In order to make the developments tangible and to analyze important tipping points of the development, four scenarios of the energy landscape 2050 are developed. Subsequently, the energy landscape 2050 in the network area of the Rheinische NETZGesellschaft will be modeled and simulated in detail. The amount, time and location of future demand for electricity, gas and heat are calculated.

As part of the study, a modeling tool was developed, with the help of which the scenarios can be independently adapted and simulated in the future. Based on these simulations, conclusions can be drawn for the long-term development of the network infrastructure. The regional energy consumption and above all peak power and gas consumption are valuable inputs for the long-term asset strategy and network structure planning.

Publication of the study in the ew 01/2018 (German language only)