Denmark is set for 100 per cent independency from fossil fuels by the year 2050. That transformation will not be easy, and scientists are working hard to model the transformation to a brand new energy grid, coupling electricity, heating, and transport in a smart way.

The RE-Invest project gathers some of the major energy-market players and researchers from some of the world’s leading universities. At Aarhus University, several scientists are involved in the project, which is being funded with DKK 27 mill. from Innovation Fund Denmark Postdoc Marta Victoria is one of the AU scientists involved, and one of her main contributions is modelling solar photovoltaics (solar PV) at a national scale:

“Solar PV has experienced a dramatic cost reduction. It’s a lot cheaper today than it was 10 years ago. Coupled with cheap wind, both offshore and onshore, the main challenge today is not to generate cheap electricity. The puzzle is to couple electricity generated from a myriad of small installations scattered across a country to the total electricity demand and the energy demand of other sectors, while simultaneously interconnecting with other countries.”

She continues:
“Consequently, solar PV has changed from being a niche technology to power expensive satellites or remote isolated electrical systems, to being considered one of the key technologies to power our future low-carbon energy system. There’s already more than 500 GW installed today, and since 2016 solar PV has seen the highest installation rate per year of all renewable technologies. So we really need to learn the best strategies to match variable energy generation from solar PV with demand.”