Energiewende vorantreiben – Besuch MdL Behrens & Thomas Gönner (Grüne)

Baden-Baden, 16 July 2021

State parliament member Behrens and Bundestag candidate Thomas Gönner (Greens) visited BentoNet for an exchange on current framework conditions and implementations of the energy transition.

The smart grid – a pipe dream?

People have been talking about the smart grid for 20 years and it cannot exist without data – but data acquisition and data transfer are far from solved problems. “While more and more diverse consumers and producers are in the energy grid, the infrastructure behind it has not changed for decades,” says Manuel Gernsbeck, Managing Partner of BentoNet GmbH. Station digitalisation, for example, is an important step for stable e-mobility. State parliament member Behrens and Bundestag candidate Gönner also spoke out in favour of clear commitments and framework conditions, which are currently lacking in these places.

Lack of openness to technologies

Furthermore, for the Greens and also for BentoNet, CO2 taxation is a key step in driving the energy transition forward in a more focused way. This taxation can at the same time pave the way for the urgently needed new technologies, of course in the circumstances of critical infrastructure.

Opportunities & limits of standards

The existing standards in the energy industry and energy technology offer little room for new technologies and short-term implementations. Until now, technologies have been strongly tied to the manufacturer. Manuel Gernsbeck contrasted this with the idea of cooperation: “Energy transition in the sense of the target triangle (CO2 neutral, secure supply and low marginal costs) cannot be achieved without cooperation. We need joint solutions on central platforms”.
For the Greens, too, this cooperation and the associated exchange play a major role in the future energy landscape. The question, however, is how new sustainable standards can be created. There are also different positions here between market regulation and political framework conditions, but the critical factor of time hangs on both positions.

Finding common ground = Gaia X?

Bundestag candidate Gönner also spoke out in favour of the new mindset and agile learning processes, such as at the major investor BlackRock, which is pulling its investments out of fossil energies by 2030. Likewise, state parliament member Behrens sees politics as the central control centre for shaping the technology landscape in the energy sector. All agreed that large international companies have little knowledge of the existing energy sector and therefore have increased deficits in the areas of security, which small and medium-sized companies in Germany are better able to solve.

The European cloud “Gaia X” was also discussed, thus forming a pilot project for European cooperation and showing that overarching solutions are needed. Managing Director Gernsbeck of BentoNet GmbH positions himself clearly: “We ourselves also offer a European solution, this is urgently needed – but we must not forget our origins, the SCADA sphere is a spectre for many IoT afficionados”.

We would like to thank them for the intensive exchange and were pleased to welcome state parliament member Behrens and Bundestag candidate Gönner.